Teachers warned against ‘disrupting children’s education’ by joining widespread public sector strike action next month – as transport minister Mark Harper says he has given ‘permission’ for a new offer to unions to end rail walkouts

• NEU expected to announce the results of a ballot of 300,000 staff tomorrow
•  Reports today suggest they have voted to take industrial action over pay
•  Strikes could close all schools in England and Wales for days at a time

A senior minister today warned teachers against ‘disrupting children’s education’ by joining public sector strike action.

The National Education Union is expected to announce the results of a ballot of 300,000 classroom staff tomorrow.

Reports today suggest they have voted to take industrial action over pay that could close all schools in England and Wales for days at a time, placing further pressure on working families. 

Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, today cautioned against industrial action if the vote passes the necessary threshold.

He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that ‘clearly any strikes, anything disrupting children’s education would be very regrettable’.

It came as he confirmed he had given train operators ‘permission’ to make a new offer to end strikes that have blighted the transport system for many months. 

Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, today cautioned against industrial action if the vote passes the necessary threshold.

Teachers in Scotland have already walked out over pay, and the NEU will announce tomorrow whether its 300,000 members will follow suit

 Last week nine out of 10 members of the NASUWT teachers union in England and Wales voted for strikes over pay. But the turnout was 42 per cent, below the 50 per cent legal threshold to allow action to take place.

Asked about the NEU deciding to strike today, Mr Harper said: ‘Well, look, first of all we don’t know that. We’ve seen some briefing in some newspapers but the only ballot result we have seen for a teachers’ union actually was that they didn’t reach the threshold and therefore they are not able to…

‘Clearly any strikes, anything disrupting children’s education would be very regrettable.  Children obviously had their education disrupted during the Covid pandemic, the last thing we want to see is children’s education disrupted. 

‘That’s why the Education Secretary, for example, met teacher’s unions to talk about the government’s evidence, the independent pay review bodies, and to listen to the concerns that teachers have got and that’s what the government wants to do. It’s back the independent pay review bodies and it wants to listen to the concerns that teachers have about education.’

Mary Bousted, General Secretary of the NEU, told Times Radio she was ‘confident, based on our own internal surveys of our membership, that we will reach the ballot threshold’.

North of the border, members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) will engage in further strike action this week. 

Discussing the rail strikes, Mr Harper said  company bosses will be working with a ‘revised mandate’ which could include a better pay offer.

The minister claimed he had made sure a ‘better deal’ on pay was available to rail workers, as he continued to make the case for changing operating conditions on the railways.

Mr Harper’s claims come as train operating companies, Network Rail and the trade unions are set to start the next round of talks over pay and conditions on the railways in an attempt to end the ongoing industrial action.

Mr Harper told Sky News: ‘The train operating companies have got permission from me to make a new offer to rail unions.

‘That is what they are going to be doing. That is what I was asked to do, that is my role in the process.

‘But it is important now that we give some space for the employers, so that is the train operating companies and Network Rail, to continue having discussions with the RMT to try and reach a conclusion.’

Pressed about whether his role in giving permission meant he had control over the negotiations, Mr Harper said: ‘They have got a revised mandate to make an offer to the trade unions, to cover both pay and also importantly reform.’

‘They will be having those discussions this coming week,’ he added.

Reports in the Financial Times newspaper in December suggested ministers have previously intervened to block a higher pay offer to rail workers.

Pressed about whether more money had been offered to the unions, Mr Harper told the BBC: ‘I made sure after I met the trade union leaders that there was a better deal on the table for rail workers.

‘But remember there is another side to it… which is also it is important that we get generational reform both on the maintenance side of the operation for Network Rail but also for the rail companies.

‘I want a proper seven-day railway where you don’t have to run a rail service by depending on the goodwill of people turning up on their days off.’

This comes as ministers push for new laws requiring minimum levels of service on strike days – legislation which is expected to take around six months to pass through Parliament.

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is due to be considered again by MPs on Monday.

Nurses in England will return to picket lines on Wednesday and Thursday, accusing the Government of having ‘failed to act’ after their historic industrial action in December.

Civil servants are the latest to join the ranks of striking workers, amid growing industrial unrest which has seen stoppages across the country including by ambulance workers, staff on the railways and Border Force employees.

This week will also see London bus workers at Abellio strike on Monday and Thursday.

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