Bolton: NEU teachers to vote on possible strike action

An indicative ballot is being held this week which could pave the way for action across the country.

Teachers in Bolton say their fight is not just about better pay for themselves but is vital to securing better futures for the borough’s youngsters.

Bolton NEU branch and district secretary Carla Hazlehurst said: “Parents need to understand that if they don’t want their children to be taught by someone who can’t afford to feed themselves of can’t afford to pay their gas bills then they need to support us.”

She added: “People can help us by supporting as many teachers that they may know personally as possible and letting them know that they’re behind them.”

Ms Hazlehurst, who teaches at a school in Horwich, explained that for years the teaching profession had suffered from real terms pay cuts and skewed priorities that meant pupils as young as four-years-old were subjected to rigorous exams at the expense of more rounded education.

Teachers have long been struggling with an ever increasing workload, according to the NEU (Image: PA)

Unions say class sizes have risen and the number of teaching assistants employed has fallen while teachers have had to grapple with ever increasing workloads including hours of unpaid overtime.

Now the National Education Union is calling for a pay rise for teachers that is at least in line with inflation.

Ms Hazlehurst said: “The vast majority of teachers I work with have such professional pride, they would never act in a way that was detrimental to children’s education.”

The alternative, she warned, will simply be ever worsening conditions for teachers and their pupils alike with a lack of funding severely limiting children’s education.

She said: “The knock-on effect for children is that the curriculum has collapsed to just English, maths and science so those children who are not academic won’t reach their potential.”

Bolton NEU’s Julia Simpkins felt that teachers have long been treated with a lack of respect by the government, as evidenced by constant Ofsted inspections, a national curriculum which doesn’t allow for creativity and diversity

She said: “When Boris Johnson left Downing Street he thanked all the nurses, the doctors, all the key workers who’d continued working throughout the pandemic except teachers.”

She added: “They just don’t seem to treat teachers like professional people.”

Both Ms Hazlehurst and Ms Simpkins have experienced the mounting cost of living crisis at first hand were teachers have often had to resort to feeding breakfasts to children themselves or even providing them with clothes.

ALSO READ: Schools to open foodbanks for families as 'food and fuel' costs soar

ALSO READ: 'It's only going to get worse' as record Bolton pupils need free school meals

ALSO READ: Bolton's rich/poor divide widens with 50 per cent of children living in poverty in one area

In many cases, teachers themselves have had to act as a makeshift arm of the welfare state themselves as the more and more children are plunged into poverty, even as they struggle with low pay and lengthening unpaid overtime hours themselves.

Pressures like these have seen as many as 50 per cent of newly qualified teachers leave the profession in their first five years.

The preliminary ballot will close on Friday with a result expected shortly afterwards.

If enough teachers vote to take action and the government does not meet the union’s demands then a final strike ballot will follow.