First strike: Industrial action in the education sector

On 1 February 2023, thousands of workers went on strike on in England and Wales. It was the biggest single day of strike action in decades. Among those striking were train and bus drivers, lecturers, civil servants, border control staff, librarians, and for the first time since 2016, teachers.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) union stated that about a third of schools in England and Wales, more than half of teachers were on strike, with nine per cent closed entirely. Teachers were also on strike in areas of Scotland as part of rolling industrial action.

Low wages and high workloads are at the forefront of the disputes. General Secretary of the National Education Union Mary Bousted referred to this as a ‘toxic combination’, leading to a third of new teachers leaving the profession within five years. The NEU announced that the strikes would be taking place in January following a 90.44 per cent majority vote by its members in England and 92.28 per cent majority in Wales. The next largest teaching union, NASUWT, said that its balloting had returned overwhelming support for strike actions, but that as it had fallen below 50 per cent in its turnout it would not be calling for strike action.