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Teachers' Strike Affected Three In Five London Schools

The Huffington Post UK  |  By Posted: 29/03/2012 11:26 Updated: 29/03/2012 11:26

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Teacher Strike
Hundreds of pupils were affected as teachers took to the streets in pension protests

Hundreds of students suffered as a result of teachers staging a strike on Wednesday, which saw around 6,000 teachers and lecturers marching through central London.

The Department of Education (DfE) confirmed three in five London schools were affected by the strike, although the capital was not the only area to feel the force of the protests.

A fifth of schools in London were completely closed due to the strikes, with only two in five schools remaining completely open, according to the DfE figures.

The move to down tools follows last year's strike and suggests the bitter pensions row is here to stay. Members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the University and College Union (UCU) held a rally outside the DfE headquarters to voice their anger over the increase in pension contributions which are due to be enforced next week.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said the union's members were "unlikely militants" and would "much rather be doing their jobs than taking strike action and losing a day's pay".

But she added: "It is not fair for ordinary people to suffer huge cuts in their standards of living at a time when the Government is handing out huge tax give-aways to big business and high earners.''

NUT general secretary Christine Blower said: ''Teachers cannot be expected to do anything other than defend the right to a pension which they have paid into in good faith.

''No teacher wants to be in this position. It is the government's intransigence and total disregard of the facts that has forced teachers to continue with this action.''

But schools minister Nick Gibb told The Daily Telegraph he found the strike "odd".

"It is only the NUT and UCU who think there is anything to be gained by inconveniencing parents and damaging a day's
education of children at a time when the teacher pension negotiations are complete."

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Demonstrators against the Government's controversial public sector pension reforms protest outside the Department for Education in Westminster, London.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ccraiglamont
Sometimes funny, other times...not!
153 Fans
02:11 PM on 04/02/2012
EVERY penny a teacher earns comes from public purse. Any tax they pay comes from that initial payment from the public purse. Any payments into their pension comes from that initial payment from the public purse. When the public purse is almost empty and things become unsustainable due to Government mis-management surely they do not mind tightening their belts like the rest of us? How about getting a part time job for the 25% of the year you are on holiday?
Incidentally, visit the Dept of Education website and it tells you the basic salaries for Teachers around the country including inner and outer London, I nealy fell off my seat when I saw the salaries these people command and are complaining about!!
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hellybaybee
2 Fans
11:21 AM on 03/30/2012
I hate this demonisation... since when did it become such an abhorrence for people to defend themselves and stand up for their rights? 'pupils suffered'? they had a Wednesday off... hardly the downfall of education
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wincanton man
108 Fans
06:33 AM on 03/30/2012
Wow, where do this lot in the picture teach - Hogwarts?
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alconltd
36 Fans
08:02 PM on 03/29/2012
If it was not a strike it would be a teacher training day. Not sure about in the south but here in the North it is every other week nearly. I thought these people were trained.
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changingman2001
18 Fans
08:17 PM on 03/29/2012
It's 5 days per year actually and they used to be holidays. As schools are open 39 weeks per year, that hardly equates to nearly once per week.
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changingman2001
18 Fans
08:34 PM on 03/29/2012
5 days per year training days (and these were once holidays pre-1988). 39 weeks per year teaching - hardly equates to one training day per week...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Norman Mitchison
92 Fans
 
07:46 PM on 03/29/2012
Okay for teachers to have a day off on strike, but try and get leave of absence for a child for the day and all hell breaks loose........
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changingman2001
18 Fans
08:28 PM on 03/29/2012
Maybe when regional pay comes in that is the same as the private sector, teachers can take their holidays when they ike as they tend to be able to do in the private sector. As we approach Easter, it's worth pointing out that the 11-16 year old pupils are actually really tired and in need of a holiday. I will be in working three days over those hols (as is normal) for those pupils approaching their exams. On other evenings, I'll be doing planning for the next term. I don't want a pat on the back for any of that, but the holidays are really there for the pupils and few staff actually do nothing during the holidays.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Edgar H
Keep the Press free!
94 Fans
11:20 AM on 03/30/2012
If teachers achieved the same results as the private sector, I'd willingly support them having the same rate, alas they do not.

The opportunity exsists for any teacher to go and work in the private sector if they are up to it.
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Southern law girl
Researching my viewpoint....
160 Fans
08:47 PM on 03/29/2012
Good evening Norman
Yes, this is a very important point. Firstly, I believe education is very important. However, when young families are trying to provide holidays for their children, they find school holiday time so expensive, travel companies are opportunists, so I don't blame parents in those circumstances wanting to take their children away for a week or so to ensure they get some kind of break. Happy children learn better, are more settled, a break works wonders, well in most cases. I remember my childhood holiday memories so clearly as if it were yesterday.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Norman Mitchison
92 Fans
 
11:37 AM on 03/30/2012
Were opportunistic holiday firms to realise that if their `upping` of rates during holiday periods did`nt exist, more families could afford to go away. This would then increase their client base ,which would override any loss of income on the `upped` rate and consequently make them a greater profit. Wishful thinking though ,as greed seems to dominate their mindsets.
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janno000
60 Fans
06:36 PM on 03/29/2012
I doubt if any child 'suffered'.
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Southern law girl
Researching my viewpoint....
160 Fans
08:38 PM on 03/29/2012
Probably not. Maybe there should be some clause that only allows a couple of representatives from each school to strike. Notwithstanding it is for one day only, or even half a day etc., I am sure I shall be criticised for saying that, because I realise that every one person has the right to strike, but am just wondering how parents who work manage, I really do wonder, because they suddenly find themselves having to stay at home rather than work. Must be difficult, they have my sympathy because a second income is needed in the majority of cases.
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bellsheil
35 Fans
06:03 PM on 03/29/2012
Seeing the picture of the demonstrating teachers, it makes me wonder why, if schoolchildren are made to wear uniforms and keep to rules of tidiness in appearance, why teachers are not subject to the same rules.
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janno000
60 Fans
06:35 PM on 03/29/2012
But the teachers were not in school
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bellsheil
35 Fans
06:56 PM on 03/29/2012
They don't look much different when they are in school.
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Southern law girl
Researching my viewpoint....
160 Fans
08:31 PM on 03/29/2012
I agree,they should lead by example! Jobs like teaching should carry the same set of rules as the police, the police cannot strike, so this should apply to other important positions of employment. Furthermore, by it not applying to the other job titles, that isn't fair to the police.
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workingmynutsofftopaytax
20 Fans
05:41 PM on 03/29/2012
With such a loose grip on reality I would rather these people didn't teach my children.
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Southern law girl
Researching my viewpoint....
160 Fans
08:28 PM on 03/29/2012
I agree! A friend of mine used to help as a volunteer at a local State School, she helped children along with their reading skills. When she first volunteered she imagined the children would be around six to eight, oh no, not a bit of it. She was helping children between the ages of eight and sixteen! They acted up all the time, nearly drove her around the hatrack, but she stuck with it. She was 75 years of age, a very clever lady, but she worked her socks off to get those children motivated, she did because they much improved, and she was hailed a heroine, the teachers couldn't understand how she did it - she did and they were surprised. Now she wasn't a school teacher, in fact she was an artist, but had been an Oxford Don years ago, but she managed to get results, that's the point. Sadly, she has now moved back home to Canada, she had lived in England on and off since the Sixties.
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MELkay
34 Fans
05:14 PM on 03/29/2012
SOME EXAMPLE ? WEVE ALL GOT TO PAY WHAT LABOUR STOLE. GET IT
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goatwin
10 Fans
07:08 PM on 03/29/2012
So what did labour steal ?
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