Classrooms left empty as teachers strike in mass protest over pensions
Picket lines were drawn across north London as teachers walked out in a mass protest against proposed pension changes today (Wednesday, March 28).
Classrooms were left empty as 60 schools in Camden, 41 in Haringey and 50 in Barnet were closed due to a national strike.
The walkout was organised by teachers’ unions against the government’s proposed changes to pensions, which would raise the retirement age for teachers to 68 and increase contributions by 50 per cent.
Unions say the proposals will make teachers “pay more, work longer and for less”.
Teachers and lecturers marched from Malet Street in Bloomsbury to the Department for Education in Westminster.
You may also want to watch:
Andrew Baisley, Camden National Union of Teachers (NUT) secretary, said: “There is sufficient anger and strength of feeling among teachers in Camden to move to strike action.
“These aren’t industrial workers, it takes a lot for teachers to go this far.”
Most Read
- 1 Buyers launch legal action after £75k bill for flammable cladding
- 2 Car crashes through South Hampstead garden wall - cyclist seriously injured
- 3 Senior councillors knew of chance to buy office block for £12m less than they paid
- 4 Abandoned burger trailer finally removed from Muswell Hill street
- 5 New Belsize restaurant Cinder enjoys busy opening after lockdown delays
- 6 'Peace and Quiet' of Muswell Hill in band's new video
- 7 Developer's plan for six houses in old pub car park in Highgate Hill
- 8 Boy George and Bananarama join Kenwood 2021 concert line up
- 9 Temple Fortune's Cohens Jewellers celebrates turning 50 - a year late
- 10 Woman dies after house fire in Muswell Hill
Speeches were made by socialist writer and author Owen Jones, union members and Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen.
NUT general secretary Christine Blower said: “Teachers cannot be expected to do anything other than defend the right to a pension which they have paid into in good faith.”