UK teachers threaten strike
The Government is facing a summer of discontent as the threat of a teachers’ walkout over pensions grew.
The Government is facing a summer of discontent as the threat of a teachers’ walkout over pensions grew.
Millions of pupils at almost every school in England and Wales could be affected if teachers strike over the coalition’s proposed pensions changes, union leaders claimed.
The warning came as a new poll revealed that more than two-thirds of teachers would be more likely to leave the profession if they were forced to pay more or work longer for their pension.
Speaking at the start of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) annual conference in Harrogate, Yorkshire, general secretary Christine Blower said “pretty much all schools” would be affected by a strike.
“Our combined membership (NUT and ATL) would mean very, very large numbers of schools across England and Wales would be affected,” she added.
The NUT is expected to debate a priority resolution calling for a ballot on industrial action at the conference this weekend.
It comes just days after Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) members backed a ballot on strike action at their conference in Liverpool.
The unions are concerned that the coalition’s changes to public-sector pensions will leave them paying more, working longer and receiving less when they retire. If approved, action could take place as early as June, putting teachers among the first wave of public-sector workers to take industrial action over pensions.
NUT deputy general secretary Kevin Courtney accused the Government of failing to take discussions on the issue seriously. “They can stop the action if they start behaving in a way that we think they’re serious about having discussions with us,” he said.
At ATL’s conference on Wednesday, Schools Minister Nick Gibbs was jeered and heckled as he attempted to justify the Government’s pensions plans. ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said later that, following his speech, the Schools Minister had invited the heads of the teaching unions to discussions over the issue.
Source: Press Association