LONDON (Reuters) Jan,16– Teachers in England and Wales announced a strike late Monday, joining labor force with nurses, railway workers and others in an attempt to create new headaches for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government.
The results of the National Education Union (NEU) teacher vote will be announced on Monday at 1700 GMT. The Sunday Times quoted union sources as saying union members in England and Wales said he had voted to support the strike since February.
NEU co-secretary-general Mary Bousted said she wants her February 1st strike, the day 100,000 public sector workers will go on strike. With inflation above 10%, workers in various sectors are demanding higher wages.
The NEU, the UK’s largest education union with about 500,000 members, said the government had offered its members a 5% wage increase, but said it was a wage cut due to rising prices.The union said it , many quit their jobs due to the low wages of teachers.
The government has said it cannot afford large wage increases and has warned that large wage increases will exacerbate the inflation problem.
Bousted told his Sky News that an internal NEU poll showed that the limits of the strike were approaching. “By 5 p.m. tonight, we will announce a pattern of behavior,” she said.
A strike vote by another teachers’ union in England last week missed the turnout needed.The union of school principals in England and Wales is also due to announce on Monday whether to go ahead with the strike.
The last time teachers in England went on strike was in 2016, but most schools remain open. A major strike by teachers occurred in 2008, she said. Scottish teachers are already on strike and many schools are closed. On Monday, they launched his 16-day streak of strikes affecting two municipalities each day.
Transport Minister Mark Harper said on Sunday that the teachers’ decision to go on strike was “deplorable”.
There is hope that a new offer for rail workers could end strikes in the sector, but nursing officials warn the strike could escalate.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing are set to go on strike Wednesday and Thursday, with unions warning the next strike could be more serious.
