Schools are running on empty...we will strike for months if we must

PUBLIC SECTOR TURNS ON SUNAK

- LIZZY BUCHAN

• Teachers in warning after talks fail 
• Cuts ‘more harmful than walkouts’

TEACHERS’ strikes could run into the summer if stubborn ministers refuse to budge over pay rises, No10 was warned last night. 

But the National Education Union said any disruption would be nowhere near as bad as the results of 13 years of Tory cuts that have left schools struggling to do their jobs as underpaid staff quit in droves.

Teachers are preparing to walk out tomorrow after last-ditch talks with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan failed to break the pay deadlock.

Unions accused the Tories of squandering the chance to avert the strikes by refusing to get serious on wage rises. Six more days of walkouts have already been announced up to March 16.

Joint NEU chief Dr Mary Bousted said strikes were a last resort but the Tories have failed to grasp school staff’s anger.