In Britain, half a million teachers, civil servants and train drivers joined a nationwide strike Wednesday, forcing schools to shut down and halting rail service. It was the largest such work stoppage in a generation and comes on the heels of a historic nurses’ strike last month.
London, February 2 (RHC)-- In Britain, half a million teachers, civil servants and train drivers joined a nationwide strike Wednesday, forcing schools to shut down and halting rail service. It was the largest such work stoppage in a generation and comes on the heels of a historic nurses’ strike last month.
Workers called for fair wages amid soaring inflation. Some 300,000 teachers took part in “Walkout Wednesday.”
Mary Bousted of the National Education Union told reporters: “Teachers are striking in England and Wales today because there has been, over the last 12 years, a really catastrophic long-term decline in their pay. Teachers have lost 13% over that period. That’s, in real terms, a huge amount to lose. And that is causing a recruitment and retention crisis in our schools.”
A number of students joined their teachers on the street, including 10-year-old Issa Yeboah-Asante from London, who said: “Our school is suffering from our teachers not having enough money to be paid. So I think that I should miss some school, because I believe that teachers should have their funding.”
