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Members of the National Education Union (NEU) during a rally in Manchester, as teachers in the north of England begin the first of three days of nationwide strike action in a long-running dispute over pay. Picture date: Tuesday February 28, 2023.
Waiting for the grander vision to emerge
TEACHERS taking rolling strike action this week set the scene for a surge in industrial action up to the Budget in a fortnight’s time.
They are battling tediously familiar media smears that they are irresponsible, lazy or troublemaking, but have stood firm in the face of attempts by government to get them to call the action off in return for nothing more than talks on pay — not even a new offer.
At the same time ministers have recommended to the School Teachers’ Review Body further real-terms pay cuts for the 2023/24 round, a sign that educators are right to keep raising the pressure.
Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS
It is time to stop tolerating the governing elites incompetence which makes our lives a daily misery, argues MATT KERR
Building is the solution for much of our housing crisis – and will also help to address poverty, ill health, and even anti-social behaviour and alienation, writes KENNY MacASKILL
Since 2010, one in five firefighter jobs has disappeared alongside 30% funding cuts — all while climate breakdown brings record blazes and flooding. It’s time to fund our fire service properly, writes FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT