Government Challenges Legality of NUT Strike

Sixth Form teachers planning a strike on Tuesday, 15 March to protest at "inadequate funding" are facing a government challenge over the legality of the action.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) saw 1,689 members vote to strike for a day, in response to the cuts and the effect it says reduced funding will have on the most disadvantaged students.

However, the Department of Education says that will seek to prevent the strike in the High Court. A Department of Education spokesman, said:

"The NUT is seeking to disrupt the education of thousands of students through what we believe to be an unlawful dispute, based on political grounds and not a trade dispute about the terms and conditions of its members."

As a result, the spokesman said the Government was planning to challenge the move in the courts.

Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the NUT, said funding had already been cut in real terms by 14%, and further real-term cuts of 8% were now planned. He described the situation as "untenable" and said:

"We regret that the Government has chosen this route rather than seeking to resolve the dispute through negotiations about adequate funding for the sector, which could protect teachers' conditions of service and students' conditions of learning."

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