Thousands of teachers across north-west England will walk out on Thursday to voice their outrage at attacks on their working conditions and pay by PressTV
The strike organized by the two biggest teachers’ unions the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) will affect 3,000 schools.
NUT said part of the striking teachers will also march in protest to the government’s education cuts in the cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Chester.
The two unions said they want the Education Secretary Michael Gove to halt changes to teachers’ pay and conditions as long as the negotiations between the unions and the government over the thorny matters continue.
The NUT and NASUWT General Secretaries held talks with Gove on June 17 but the two left the meeting describing Gove’s response as “extremely disappointing”.
They said over the last year Gove “has made no effort to hold serious discussions with both unions or cease his escalating attacks on teachers.”
The unions have already warned that the Thursday strike will be a prelude to a series of walkouts in the autumn.
The Thursday action also follows a march by hundreds of teachers in London to call on the government to protect education.