UK Sees Biggest Strike in a Decade as School Teachers Join Walkout

Striking members and supporters of the National Education Union (NEU) stage a protest on Whitehall, London, on Feb. 1, 2023. Jordan Pettitt/PA Media

The UK saw the biggest single day of strikes in a decade on Wednesday, with up to half a million workers, including tens of thousands of teachers, joining the nationwide industrial action.

The mass walkout involved members of seven trade unions, including civil servants, train and bus drivers, and university staff. Picket lines were mounted outside railway stations, schools, government departments, and universities across the country.

The National Education Union (NEU) said it believes “more than 200,000” members joined the strike,” affecting around 85 percent of schools in England and Wales.

More than 100,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union also went on strike, including Border Agency staff at ports and airports.

At the Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, Rishi Sunak criticised Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for voting against proposals to introduce minimum service levels during strikes and opposing changes to the Public Order Bill intended to crack down on disruptive protests by climate activists from organisations such as Just Stop Oil.

Sunak said: “What do the unions and Just Stop Oil have in common? They bankroll him and his party. So while he sides with extremist protesters and union bosses, we stand up for hard-working Britons and schoolchildren.”

Starmer replied: “After 13 years in power, trying to blame the Labour Party for his failure to sort out the strikes is rank pathetic.”

‘Deeply Disappointing’

This is the first of seven days of teachers’ strikes scheduled in February and March after the talks between the NEU and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan failed to find a resolution in a dispute over pay.

According to data from the Department for Education, 45.9 percent of schools were estimated to be fully open, 44.7 percent open but restricting attendance, and 9.3 percent closed.

NEU joint general secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney urged the education secretary to “step up with concrete and meaningful proposals” on teachers’ pay to prevent further strikes.

“Today, we put the education secretary on notice. She has until our next strike day for England, Feb. 28, to change her stance.”

The union leaders warned: “However, be in no doubt that our members will do whatever it takes to stand up for education, including further strike action, if Gillian Keegan still fails to step up with concrete and meaningful proposals.”

Keegan called the NEU strike action “deeply disappointing.”

She said: “One school closure is too many and it remains deeply disappointing that the NEU proceeded with this disruptive action. But many teachers, head teachers, and support staff have shown that children’s education and well-being must always come first.

“Conversations with unions are ongoing and I will be continuing discussions around pay, workload, recruitment and retention, and more.”

Unionist Calls for ‘Unity’

In an article published in Wednesday’s Morning Star, a communist newspaper, Courtney, one of the NEU joint general secretaries, revealed that the union’s agenda is not limited to getting better pay for teachers.

Taking aim at the government’s effort to crack down on illegal immigration in the English Channel, the union leader wrote: “The ongoing attempts by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman to scapegoat refugees and migrants are at the centre of the government’s agenda.”

He added: “Our opponents are not those who cross in small boats but those who sail in luxury yachts. While we take action we have to organise to oppose all attempts to divide us.”

“With this government vilifying trade unions and refugees and migrants in the same breath, it’s time for us to mobilise the anti-racist majority on the streets,” he said, adding that he wants to see “strikers, refugee solidarity and faith campaigners standing together” at the “Resist Racism” protests in London, Glasgow, and Cardiff, scheduled for March 18.

‘Fair to All Taxpayers’

Downing Street said the government wants to hold more talks with unions to avert further strike action.

Asked what Rishi Sunak is doing to sort out the industrial action, his official spokesman said: “We want to have further talks with the unions. Some of those discussions have been constructive. We have to balance that against the need to be fair to all taxpayers, the majority of whom don’t work for the public sector.”

He said, “inflation is one of the biggest risks to people’s pay packets,” adding: “The government will continue to take responsible action to ensure public sector workers are paid fairly but that it’s also affordable for the taxpayer.”

The spokesman said: “I think it’s important for the public to understand that when unions understandably want more pay for their members, the government has to consider how those things are paid for, and across the board there are three main ways to do that, there are tax rises, there are borrowing, and there are cuts.

“And it’s those kind of considerations that a government, a responsible government, needs to consider.”

PA Media contributed to this report.