Crawley teacher strikes 2023: Teachers and supporters protest through the town centre to demand fairer pay - video

National Education Union teacher members working in schools and sixth form colleges across the South East are on strike ‘in pursuance of a fully funded, above inflation pay rise’ according to a spokesperson from the NEU.

In the NEU’s Southeast region, pickets have taken place at various locations including Bracknell Forest, Brighton, Canterbury, Chatham, Chichester, Crawley, Dover, Eastbourne, Guildford, Hastings, Maidstone, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Slough, Southampton, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Winchester, Wokingham, and Worthing.

The protest was attended by 100 to 150 people from schools in the Crawley area and the march started at the Memorial Gardens. It then marched through the town centre, then did a loop to the Crawley college and returned to the Memorial Gardens, where Peter Lamb from Crawley Labour gave a speech.

Regional Secretary for the National Education Union, Maria Fawcett said: “The Government cannot expect strikes to be averted unless it brings forward concrete proposals for increasing pay. Experienced teachers have seen a 23% real-terms pay cut since 2010. Given the current cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation, this is clearly an unsustainable situation for our members. The Government appears to have nothing to say to them.

“As well as allowing the profession to haemorrhage talent, the Government has missed its own targets for recruitment by an enormous margin and has done so for many years. Any sensible Government would by now have started to ask themselves why.

“Our members are taking a stand today for a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise, because the profession cannot go on like this. Parents know the consequences of persistent underfunding, both for their school/college and for their child. This strike should not be necessary, and we regret the disruption caused to parents and pupils, but our aims are in the interests of everyone in the education community.”

English teacher at Thomas Bennett Community College and NEU school representative Clesia Soares said: “I am striking because I have had enough. I am only three years into this career, but the money situation has become really dyer for me.

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“We have seen the damage round of funding cuts have done and it is getting to the point where I know people at my place of work who are taking second jobs to make ends meet. Enough is enough, we have to stand up for ourselves because the Government is certainly not.”

Adam, a teacher from Crawley, said: “We are striking because we want a fully funded pay increase with inflation or above inflation. The purpose of these strikes is to raise the profile of the issue, put the message across, and to show we are not prepared to be left out in any pay increases.”

Unite the union organiser, Josh Berlyne said: “We are here to show our support to the teachers on strike, the train drivers on strike and all the workers on strike. We want to get a message across that we are all united and support our right to strike.”