1 year ago
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Georgia Townsend works with children who have special needs with English. Teaching is the only job she ever saw herself doing, but now she faces a decision. If the National Education Union’s (NEU) strike to get an above-inflation pay rise is unsuccessful, she might not return to the classroom this September.
When Townsend puts the heating on to keep her two-year-old son warm, she does not eat. Last week, her parents realised what was happening and started ordering food parcels to her door.
“I love every second of being in that classroom with those children. I love helping them. But if I can’t afford to live, if I can’t afford to feed my son, I can’t do it. And that’s the reality of it,” she tells Hannah Moore.
The NEU’s members have voted to hold strikes across England and Wales in February and March. In Northern Ireland, other unions including the UTU, INTO and NASUWT have also voted for strike action. They join members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) who have already started a series of strike days.
Dave Wilson, the deputy head of a primary school in Gorton, Manchester, tells Moore why these strikes are about more than just pay. He describes the decisions schools make when their budgets are cut and why it is getting harder to retain staff.
Jessica Elgot, the Guardian’s deputy political editor, reports on what these strikes mean for the government and how likely it is that Rishi Sunak’s anti-strike legislation will make it into law.
English (US)