All state schools across England could end up being impacted by planned strike action in the autumn term after education unions vowed to join up for further walkouts.
The general secretaries of all four education unions - NEU, NAHT, NASUWT and ASCL - announced on Friday, April 28, that they intend to co-ordinate industrial action moving forward in "an unprecedented show of unity". This means that up to 400,000 teachers and headteachers in England could be involved in walkouts later this year if all unions go ahead with strikes, according to NEU chief Kevin Courtney.
Members of the NEU are set for their next planned walkout on Tuesday, May 2, following industrial action on Thursday, and plans to re-ballot its teachers in England to take further action in the autumn. The NAHT and the NASUWT both failed to meet the mandatory 50% turnout threshold required for strikes in England in their last ballots, and will re-ballot members in England during the summer term, while ASCL is also due to hold a formal ballot for national strikes in England for the first time in its history.
