"Morale is on the floor": North Yorkshire teachers on strike action
The first walkouts are planned for next month, with further industrial action possible in March
Teachers in North Yorkshire have warned "morale is on the floor" as some vote to go out on strike over pay and funding.
On Monday, nine in 10 members of the National Education Union (NEU) voted in favour of industrial action.
The union has declared seven days of walkouts in February and March, but has said any individual school will only be affected by four of the days.
"I'm exhuasted": Teachers in North Yorkshire reveal their reasons for going on strike
Paul Grist, a secondary school teacher in Knaresborough, said: "People work extraordinarily long hours, you can't just go in an deliver a lesson and walk home at the end of the day.
"But when that workload is coupled with really poor wages, morale is obviously going to be on the floor."
On how strikes will impact parents, Mr Grist said he understand it'll be difficult but feels teachers have no choice: "I appreciate it will be really difficult for some parents, I'm a parent as well so I know what it's like, but the quality of education that children will get will diminish significantly if they Government doesn't change track."
Danika Waddel is an A-Level teacher in Scarborough and spoke about the pressures on teachers.
"Sometimes you get students messaging you on Teams at 3am in the morning, and you can just hear your phone going off in the corner."
"It's constantly updating your resources, planning, meetings, parents evening and open mornings."
"Nine times out of 10, I'm exhausted".
"A scandalous waste of talent and taxpayers’ money"- NEU
The Department for Education (DfE) has offered a 5% pay rise to most teachers for the current school year, but the NEU is demanding a fully-funded above inflation pay rise for teachers.
Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint NEU general secretaries, said: “We have continually raised our concerns with successive education secretaries about teacher and support staff pay, and its funding in schools and colleges, but instead of seeking to resolve the issue they have sat on their hands.
“It is disappointing that the Government prefers to talk about yet more draconian anti-strike legislation, rather than work with us to address the causes of strike action.”
The union leaders added that historic real-terms pay cuts for teachers had created an “unsustainable situation” in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, adding that staff were leaving the profession “in droves”.
“This is a scandalous waste of talent and taxpayers’ money yet the Government seems unbothered about the conditions they are allowing schools and colleges to slide into,” they said.
Government urges teachers not to strike to avoid ‘damage’ to education
Ahead of the strike ballot results, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We would continue to call on teachers not to strike given we know what substantial damage was caused to children’s education during the pandemic and it’s certainly not something we want to see repeated.
“We would hope they would continue to discuss with us their concerns rather than withdraw education from children.”
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is planning to meet unions on Wednesday.
Responding to the ballot, she said: ""While I welcome the outcome from the National Association of Headteachers not to strike, it is deeply disappointing for children and parents that NEU teacher members have voted in favour of walking out.
"Talks with union leaders are ongoing and any strike action from one union will have a damaging impact on pupils' education and wellbeing, particularly following the disruption experienced over the past two years.
"We have already met the unions' request for an additional £2 billion in school funding, which will take real-terms spending on schools to its highest level in history."
Last week, a ballot of members of the NASUWT teachers’ union failed to reach the 50% turnout threshold, although nine in 10 of those who did vote backed strikes.