Teachers across BCP to take part in new national strikes

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) based at schools in the BCP area will be striking on April 27 and May 2, joining tens of thousands of colleagues across England.

It comes after NEU members voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action – a decision boosted by more than fifty thousand new members recently joining the union.

NEU district and branch secretary for BCP Lisa Weir said: “It saddens our members to have to take further strike action, especially as the governments in Scotland and Wales have negotiated with the unions and put forward pay offers that have resulted in those strikes being resolved.

“We call on all MPs, in particular those with constituencies within the BCP area, to use their influence in Westminster to bring about a resolution to these strikes. NEU members want to be back in the classroom, they want students benefiting from better funding for their schools and to help bring about an end to the teacher recruitment crisis.

Lecturers on strike outside Arts University Bournemouth in February.. (Image: Newsquest)

“All of this can be achieved by the government if they commit to giving education in England the funding it needs.”

In April, teachers in England rejected a pay offer from the government that would have seen salaries rise by 4.3 per cent on average next year, alongside a one-off payment of £1,000 for this year.

The Department for Education described the offer as “fair and reasonable” and said schools would receive an extra £2.3bn in funding over the next two years.

The NEU says its members are seeking pay increases for teachers which at least match cost of living increases, and for any pay rise to be fully funded in school budgets.

BCP Council has said a list of local schools impacted by the strikes will be released on Wednesday, April 26, and updated the following day.

During the previous strikes in late March, eight schools in BCP closed completely while at least 70 were partially shut.