National Education Union (NEU) members are striking over pay in England and Wales on seven dates in February and March. National action already took place on February 1 and more planned dates over the coming weeks will impact thousands of teachers, students and parents.
The NEU is the UK's largest education union in all of Europe with more than 510,000 members and announced strikes would affect 23,400 schools in England and Wales. In a statement, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, said teachers are striking over a "toxic mix of low pay and excessive workload".
The union added that the last thing they wanted to do is strike, saying: "This is not about a pay rise but correcting historic real-terms pay cuts. Teachers have lost 23% in real-terms since 2010, and support staff 27% over the same period. The average 5% pay rise for teachers this year is some 7% behind inflation. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, that is an unsustainable situation."
Any individual school will only be impacted on a maximum of four out of the seven dates, but still presents childcare issues for many parents who will have to take time off work. How many days your child's school will be closed for also depends on where you live, as some dates are regional only, including Nottinghamshire which falls under the East Midlands area strikes.
School strike dates for East Midlands
Schools in the East Midlands are likely to be closed on March 1, 15 and 16 if a resolution to prevent industrial action is not found beforehand. A list of the full strike details can be found below:
February 14: Union members striking in Wales
February 28: Members striking in the following English regions: Northern, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber
March 1: Members striking in the following English regions: East Midlands , West Midlands, Eastern
March 2 : Members striking in the following English regions: London, South East, South West
March 15: Members striking in England and Wales
March 16: Members striking in England and Wales
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