Merseyside teachers to go on strike over pay

Apr 1 2008

Exam hall

MERSEYSIDE teachers will take part in the region’s first countywide school strike for more than 20 years.

The region’s education chiefs today condemned the strike after the NUT confirmed its members would go ahead with the April 24 walkout.

They said they feared it would hit pupils and disrupt exam preparation.

The row centres on teachers’ salaries, after the government said rises for September 2008 would be pegged to 2.45%, and 2.3% for 2009 and 2010.

Merseyside teachers want 10%.

Confirming the strike - expected to see 2,000-plus teachers stage marches across Liverpool city centre - Merseyside NUT executive member, Julie Lyon-Taylor said: “It is a last resort, but we have to act when 50% of new teachers walk away within three years. They are basically working for longer for less pay.”

Liverpool’s new education boss, Cllr Erica Kemp - a teacher for 20 years in Knowsley - urged more talks between the NUT and government.

She said: “Ultimately I would be sad if they had to resort to this as it would be pupils and the young people of the city who miss out.”

But parents backing the strike include Michael Willis, whose children Michael junior, 8, and Molly, 6, attend St Anne’s (Stanley) primary in Old Swan. He said: “Teachers are saints in my opinion and they should be paid double.”