Catherwood LibraryILR School

Stirred by the government’s refusal to address cost of living issues, teachers went on strike for the first time in thirty years across the Greater London area yesterday demanding that the government increase allowances for teachers in the capital. The strike shutdown 2,000 schools in whole or in part and directly impacted over 250,000 students as thousands of members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) walked off the job---many of them marching on Parliament to press their demands. Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Secretary of Education Estelle Morris have taken a hard line towards the teachers, but the National Association of Head Teachers and the Secondary Heads Association have joined the NUT in suggesting that refusal to address teachers’ concerns may result in additional industrial action. Stirred by the government’s refusal to address cost of living issues, teachers went on strike for the first time in thirty years across the Greater London area yesterday demanding that the government increase allowances for teachers in the capital. The strike shutdown 2,000 schools in whole or in part and directly impacted over 250,000 students as thousands of members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) walked off the job---many of them marching on Parliament to press their demands. Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Secretary of Education Estelle Morris have taken a hard line towards the teachers, but the National Association of Head Teachers and the Secondary Heads Association have joined the NUT in suggesting that refusal to address teachers’ concerns may result in additional industrial action.