Strike disrupting 8,000 schools About a third of schools in England and Wales

[Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>]

> BBC NEWS
>
> Strike disrupting 8,000 schools
>
> About a third of schools in England and Wales 
> have been disrupted by the first national teachers' strike in 21 years.
>
> The walkout by thousands of teachers has closed 
> or partially closed up to 8,000 schools, forcing 
> working parents to stay at home or find childcare.
>
> The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is staging 
> more than 50 rallies, as members demand a 4.1% 
> pay rise rather than the 2.45% on offer.
>
> Gordon Brown has described the strike as "unfortunate and regrettable".
>
> This one-day strike, condemned by all the main 
> political parties, is the opening move in what 
> the NUT says will be a long-term campaign over pay.
>
> Christine Blower, acting general secretary of 
> the NUT, said she could not rule out further pay strikes in the months ahead.
>
> "It is not in my gift to give that guarantee," she told the BBC.
>
> TEACHERS' PAY
> £20,133 - starting salary (England and Wales)
> £34,281 - most experienced teachers' salary (outside London)
> +£4,000 - additional pay for inner London teachers
> £39,525 - headteachers' starting salary
> Nearly £100,000 - most experienced headteachers' salary
>
> It was estimated that more than 2.5m pupils were 
> affected by Thursday's strike - with more than a 
> million forced to stay at home. Many are 
> studying for GCSE examinations which start next month.
>
> The prime minister said the strike had been 
> called by a "minority" of teachers, and said it 
> was regrettable for both pupils and parents.
>
> Mr Brown added: "I hope we can move forward in 
> the next few months and get a sure settlement of this."
>
> Further education colleges in England were also 
> disrupted, as members of the University and 
> College Union (UCU) walked out in protest at their pay settlement.
>
> Hundreds of college departments were closed, and 
> prison education departments were also affected.
>
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>
> Teachers, parents and pupils talk about the strike
>
> As the day of action began, teachers formed 
> picket lines outside schools. Many held banners 
> aloft bearing slogans such as "Where's the 
> money, Darling?" - calling on the chancellor to 
> make more funds available for their pay award.
>
> Other teachers handed out leaflets to parents to 
> explain why they were on strike.
>
> In London, police estimated that more than 6,000 
> teachers and other public sector workers had 
> marched to a rally in Westminster.
>
> More than 1,000 people gathered for a rally in 
> Birmingham's Victoria Square, where a band 
> played a song from the 1984 miners' strike, "I'd 
> rather be a picket than a scab".
>
> Other rallies were staged in Manchester, 
> Liverpool, Preston, Bolton, Leeds, Newcastle, 
> Sheffield, Hull, Cardiff and Wrexham.
>
> The disruption includes:
>    * In Liverpool, the NUT said just seven out 
> of 194 schools were fully open
>    * In Cumbria, more than 90 schools are shut and 53 are partially closed
>    * In Birmingham, the largest local education 
> authority in the UK, 160 schools are affected
>    * In Wales, half of schools (900) are shut or partially shut
>    * In Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and 
> Buckinghamshire, more than 170 schools are either closed or partially shut
>    * Widespread disruption is also expected to 
> affect schools in Leeds, Manchester, Suffolk, Nottinghamshire and inner London
>
> But many other schools, where teachers were not 
> members of the NUT, remained unaffected.
>
> The NASUWT, the National Association of 
> Headteachers and the Association of Teachers and 
> Lecturers have accepted the pay review body 
> recommendations, and will not be taking industrial action.
>
>
> <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/default.stm>HAVE 
> YOUR SAY This is not a selfish request for 
> higher wages but a need to keep teachers' pay in 
> line with other graduate professions Jenny, London
>
> Experts said the strike would have wider 
> implications for the economy, with many working 
> parents forced to stay at home to look after children
>
> Sally Low, from the British Chambers of 
> Commerce, estimated businesses could lose at 
> least £68m in lost working hours, plus the 
> additional disruption of having to fill in behind absent staff.
>
> The government's three-year pay deal for 
> teachers is worth 2.45% this year, and then 
> increases of 2.3% in the following years.
>
> The NUT says the offer represents an erosion of 
> teachers' earnings, and risks adversely 
> affecting the recruitment of quality staff.
>
> Ms Blower said: "What we're saying to the 
> government is, if you really do value teachers, 
> then make sure that they're paid at least at the 
> level of inflation - which we take to be the RPI, which is 4.1%."
>
> Pay battle
>
> Teachers say although pay had gone up in the 
> past, recent wage settlements were causing it to lag again.
>
> One - Lesley Auger, who has taught for 30 years 
> - said: "We have been paid well but we have had 
> to face three years of low pay rises and we are 
> now looking at the prospect of another three years of the same."
>
> But ministers maintain teachers are rewarded 
> adequately, and that parents would feel little sympathy for their demands.
>
> They called on the NUT to respect the view of 
> the independent pay review body, which recommended the 2.45% pay award.
>
> "I think parents are bewildered because they 
> hear that the average teacher earns about 
> £34,000," said schools minister Jim Knight.
>
> "Their pay has gone up by 19% in real terms 
> since 1997 and that at 2.45% they're getting 
> more than the 2% benchmark for public sector pay 
> last year and that it's a reasonable deal."
>
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>
> NUT defends teachers' strike
>
> "I share the anger of parents who see the 
> children missing out on education so close to their exams."
>
> Conservative schools spokesman Nick Gibb said it 
> was "deeply regrettable" so many children would 
> have their education disrupted by this strike, 
> particularly those with important exams coming up.
>
> Liberal Democrat school spokesman David Laws 
> said that teachers should have a no-strike agreement.
>
> "Given the importance of education, we should be 
> trying to move to a presumption that teaching 
> unions will not take strike action," he said.
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/education/7363718.stm
>
> Published: 2008/04/24 14:15:42 GMT
>
> © BBC MMVIII