Teachers in the United Kingdom are to stage a one-
day national walkout in the
autumn in a continuing row
over pay, pensions and
workload, it was announced
today. Every region in England and
Wales will be affected by
regional strikes in the first and
third week of October, the
NASUWT and the National
Union of Teachers (NUT) said. This will be followed by a
national strike later in the
term. The announcement comes just
weeks after the two unions
staged a regional walkout in
the north west. The Government has
condemned the action. The unions said there will be
rolling strikes across England
and Wales in the week
beginning September 30 and
the week beginning October
14. This will be followed by a
one-day, all-out national
strike before the end of the
autumn term. Chris Keates, general secretary
of the NASUWT, said: "The
secretary of state needs to
take seriously the very deep
concerns and anger of teachers
and school leaders." She added: "The secretary of
state has the opportunity to
avoid further national strike
action by demonstrating that
he is willing to engage
seriously on the issues that we have put to him." Christine Blower, general
secretary of the NUT, said:
"Strike action is always a last
resort for teachers and they
are very well aware of the
difficulties that this causes for parents and pupils. Teachers,
however, have been left with
no option. If we do not take a
stand now to defend the
profession, then the
consequences for teacher recruitment and education
will be disastrous for all." Education Secretary Michael
Gove wrote to both unions in
March to say he was willing to
meet them to discuss their
dispute, but also insisting that
the "direction of travel" on both of their key issues - pay
and pensions - was "fixed". Under the Government's
reforms, due to come into
effect from this autumn,
teachers' pay will be linked to
performance in the classroom
- with schools setting salaries, rather than following a
national framework. Changes have also been made
to public sector pensions.