Sunday 2 October 2022 09:54 AM Nine in ten teachers could back strike action before Christmas shutting schools ... trends now
Nine in ten teachers could back strike action before Christmas forcing schools to shut across England over pay disputes.
The figures from the largest education union, the National Education Union (NEU), show that hundreds of thousands of teachers could join rail and postal workers causing disruption across the country as they fight back.
Up to 30,000 members have said that they would become strike volunteers as they attempt to get their message heard.
In fact, the NEU survey - which was sent out to 450,000 members - led to the website crashing as dissatisfied teachers voiced their concerns.
The online ballot, which so far has 7,000 responses, still has a fortnight to run and an insider has revealed the union will open up to a formal vote for striking.
NEU General Secretary Mary Bousted told The Times: 'Teachers do not want to strike but they are desperate and leaving the profession in droves. Striking is their last resort; they are a statement that things cannot go on like this.'
It will pour more misery on both parents whose children were consistently forced to miss long periods of school during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nine in ten teachers could back strike action before Christmas forcing schools to shut across England over pay disputes (stock image)
Mary Bousted, General Secretary of the NEU, said that 'Teachers do not want to strike but they are desperate and leaving the profession in droves'
Teachers are demanding an above inflation rise to their salary after the Department of Education informed them that most would receive a five per cent rise, rising to 8.9 per cent for newly qualified staff.
But more strike actions dooms on the country as the current retail price index rate (RPI), which measures inflation, was at 12.3 per cent in August.
Schools are facing a teacher retention crisis due to more than a decade of pay issues where real pay has fallen by a fifth since 2010.
Desperate teachers are being forced to turn to food banks as the cost-of-living crisis takes control of everyday living expenses.
Just last week NAHT union's General Secretary Paul Whiteman said: 'The spiralling energy bills, inflationary costs, and lack of funding for teachers' pay this year means school leaders will be forced to make cuts that ultimately cannot help but negatively impact on the education and wellbeing of children.
The NEU survey - which was sent out to 450,000 members - led to the website crashing as dissatisfied teachers voiced their concerns
'We urge all political parties to listen to the profession to truly understand the link between funding, pay, and children's life chances, and to commit to making the investment into education that is so urgently needed.'
It comes also after a summer of widespread union protesting among rail staff, postal workers and NHS staff.
In fact, just yesterday passengers were met with travel chaos as unions kickstarted the biggest rail strike in decades during one of the busiest sporting weekends of the year.
There were 50,000 train workers who walked out on a day where members from the Aslef, RMT, Unite and TSSA unions began striking for 24 hours in a dispute also over pay as well as
