Angry teachers back pension-row strikes

All schools could shut on June 30
EVERY school in Oldham is set to be hit by a series of walkouts after furious teachers backed strike action in a row over pensions.

Around 1,400 teachers are preparing to strike on June 30, closing all 109 schools in the borough with unions saying further action could follow — though the walkout will be called off if the Government backs down.

There are around 2,500 teachers in Oldham with 1,100 National Union of Teachers (NUT) members and up to 300 Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) members involved.

It would be the first national strike in the ATL’s 127-year history. Turnout in its ballot was 35 per cent with 83 per cent of those in favour. Results from the NUT’s ballot showed 92 per cent of members were in favour on a turnout of 40 per cent.

Oldham NUT secretary Tony Harrison said: “The NUT in Oldham tends to be stronger than the national average on strike action. Teachers are really angry. They stand to lose in some cases over £100,000 over their lifetime.

“Hopefully, we are not looking at even one day of strike action as we are saying very categorically if the Government listens to us and makes significant changes to its proposals then we won’t strike.

“The attack on us is three-pronged. If the plans go ahead we will have to pay more in contributions, work longer and receive less. It’s a massive issue.

“People talk about teachers and other public-sector workers having gold-plated pensions but this is a nonsense as teachers, on average, retire with a pension of less than £10,000-a-year.”

Oldham ATL secretary Iain Windeatt said: “We don’t take this sort of action lightly. Members are taking action with a very heavy heart. We want the Government to negotiate with us.”

He added that the strike will be after the exam season to minimise disruption to pupils. Union executives will meet today to finalise the strike plans. A third teaching union, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), will decide later this week whether to ballot members on strike action.

ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said: “This is a warning shot across the bows of the Government. When even the least militant education union and teachers working in private schools vote to strike, the Government would be wrong to ignore it.”

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said it was fair to ask public-sector workers to pay “a bit more” for their pensions and to create a better balance with what other workers paid.

He added: “It will be a big mistake for people to embark on strike action while there are discussions going on.”

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) will announce the result of its strike ballot today.