Pension dispute could lead to walkout by 300,000 teachers

London: Millions of pupils could be turned away from the school gates as teachers prepare for a series of strikes.

Around 300,000 members of the National Union of Teachers (Nut) are threatening to walk out in a row with the government over pensions. It would be only the second time the union has held a national strike in 24 years.

With the industrial action expected to be held in conjunction with moderate union ATL — which has 80,000 members — a large number of schools in England and Wales will close.

A walkout is expected in June, followed by further action in September and October. Many parents would be forced to take a day off work or hire a child minder. But the unions insist any strike would not affect important external exams.

Yesterday, at the Nut's annual conference in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, delegates debated an emergency motion proposing to ballot members for a rolling programme of strike action.

Not sustainable

They are rowing with the government over changes to their pension scheme. They say they will have to contribute more, receive less and work longer.

The union insists that action would only be taken if ongoing negotiations fail to reach an acceptable conclusion. But Kevin Courtney, Nut deputy general secretary, said current talks conducted through the Trades Union Congress had stalled because ministers were failing to take workers' concerns "seriously".

"They can stop the action if they start behaving in a way that we think means they are serious," he said.

The Government claims the pension scheme is no longer sustainable because of the national debt and rising life expectancy.

The strike threat came as a poll revealed more than two-thirds of teachers would be more likely to leave the profession if they were forced to pay more or work longer for their pension.

Misleading figures

At a separate conference for union NASUWT, held in Glasgow yesterday, shadow education secretary Andy Burnham accused the Government of breaking a promise not to cut school funding. He claimed the schools budget will fall every year for the next three years, according to figures from the House of Commons library. He said the figures show the budgets will be cut by 1.1 per cent in real terms between 2010/11 and 2014/15, with per-pupil funding falling by 3.9 per cent.

But a Conservative spokesman said yesterday: "These figures are misleading. We are increasing the schools budget by £3.6 billion (Dh22.1 billion). The public sector pay freeze will also ensure more resources are focused on pupils."

At present retired male teachers have an average pension of £10,000 a year. For women the average is £9,000.