Strike action forces disruption in Shropshire schools

A national one-day strike will take place next Thursday, July 10, which Christine Blower, the union's general secretary, described as a "last resort".

The strike has been called following a long-running row over pay, pensions and conditions.

It follows a similar one-day strike by the profession's biggest union which led to the closure of some schools in March.

The impact of action is hard to assess because many schools are now trusts or academies and union members have no obligation to tell their schools they are striking in advance.

Meanwhile, civil servants and firefighters are to join the strike after voting to support industrial action.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union voted by 3-1 in favour of stoppages and will now take part in the day of action, set to be the biggest walkout over pay faced by the Government since it came to office.

Public sector union Unison also intends to join the action following a strike ballot.

Firefighters today announced they were also to join the strike. Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Wales and England will walk out on Thursday. A series of strikes have been held by firefighters over the past year, but the dispute over changes to pensions and retirement ages remains deadlocked.

The FBU strike will last between 10am and 7pm.

Thursday's walkouts will leave schools with the prospect of losing teachers to strike action as well as support staff like classroom assistants, caretakers and kitchen staff.

One of the schools in Shropshire that is set to close as a part of the strikes is the Thomas Adams School in Wem.

A letter sent to parents said: "Due to the number of teachers and non-teaching staff at Thomas Adams School that are members of the unions involved, we will be closed to students. This is in the interests of the health and safety of the students.

"Staff not participating in the industrial action will be working in school as normal on the day of the strike; however teachers and non-teaching staff are normally instructed by their own unions not to undertake the duties normally carried out by their striking colleagues – which would include covering teaching and covering supervision at break and lunchtimes."

Russell Griffin, spokesman for Telford and Wrekin Council, said the council would manage issues as they arise and that parents should be told by their school if they are likely to be affected and can also visit the council website.

John Evans, spokesman for Powys County Council, said: "Parents were informed in advance at the end of last week about Welshpool High School that it was likely to be affected by the strikes.

"Our advice for parents is to check our website or to call their the school directly."

The strike action has been called over pay and pensions. Ms Blower said: "For teachers, performance related pay, working until 68 for a full pension and heavy workload for 60 hours a week, is unsustainable."

The Department for Education said there was "no justification" for striking. Shropshire Council was unavailable to comment.