Britain hit by biggest day as teachers, workers strike over pay

Britain faces widespread disruption on Wednesday as teachers join hundreds of thousands of public sector workers for the biggest day of strike action in more than a decade. As per reports, about 85 per cent of the 23,000 state schools in England and Wales will be fully or partly closed, affecting millions of children, with hundreds of thousands of teachers taking industrial action over pay. Lecturers at dozens of universities, civil servants, train and bus drivers have also walked out. Parents are taking days off or working from home to look after their children because many are unable to travel to offices because of transport strikes. "There has been over the last 12 years a really catastrophic long term decline in their pay," said a teacher outside a school in south London.
With inflation running at more than 10% - the highest level in four decades - Britain has seen a wave of strikes in recent months across different sectors, including health and transport workers, Amazon warehouse employees and Royal Mail postal staff.

Yeah because Britain is really working well on non strike days, isn’t it.

- record NHS waiting lists
- railways collapsing
- 15 hour waits for an ambulance
- workers using foodbanks

Workers are striking to improve things. https://t.co/WCnaMAXJFI

— Jo Grady (@DrJoGrady) February 1, 2023

Education minister Gillian Keegan stuck to the government's position on Wednesday. It has taken a hard line with public sector workers, telling them that giving in to demands for large wage increases will only fuel inflation. Downing Street has conceded that the mass strike action on Wednesday will be "very difficult" for the public. The prime minister's official spokesman said it is "disappointing" that headteachers do not know fully how many teachers will be available for work until the strike day itself.