They are protesting a shortage of teachers in the schools and demanding an increase in their London allowance, which is supposed to make up for the higher cost of living in London, but is seen by teachers as totally inadequate. Teachers have not gone on strike over pay in London since 1972.

Members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) voted to strike by an 86 percent margin in late February and early March. Currently teachers receive a London allowance that varies from £3,000 in the center of London to £765 for those who teach on the outskirts of the city (£1=US$1.43). By comparison, Members of Parliament, who have voted to set the teachers' compensation, receive an £18,000 bonus. Teachers decided to strike after the government announced it would increase the central London allowances by a mere £1.62 a week, with smaller increases in other areas.

According to the Halifax building society, in February 2002 the average price of a house in London was £175,900. Assuming that a prospective buyer had a deposit of 10 percent, he or she would still have to earn £53,000 a year to get a mortgage. This is out of the reach of teachers and as a result many are leaving their jobs or moving to other parts of the country.

Teachers are angry that temporary teachers are increasingly being used to cover classes in London and qualified teachers are being asked to teach subjects in which they are not specialized. Many primary school children in the capital do not have regular teachers. The banner of one marcher read, "Like to meet new men and women everyday? Become a primary school pupil in London."

Young teachers find it particularly hard to survive in the capital city. Luke Branca, a 23-year-old art teacher, said that although he is married with one child and his wife is pregnant again he and his wife live apart as they cannot afford to get a house together.

History teacher Liam Russell said, "The problem for young teachers entering the profession has been compounded by the fact that graduates are already saddled with debts due to the cutbacks in funding for higher education."

The government and much of the media have tried to turn working people against teachers, calling them "wreckers," and drawing attention to the fact that teachers are better paid than the parents of many of the children in their classrooms. Teachers on strike responded by saying that money was only one of the factors that led them to walk out.

An example of this was Jenny Mosely, a 25-year-old teacher of English and Media Studies who is leaving her job this year but who still went on strike. "It's not about getting a pay raise," she said, "it is about ensuring pupils have qualified teachers." Mosely is leaving London and said the government "must keep teachers of my age in London educating kids--that's what's important."

The March 14 London Evening Standard estimated that half of London's 1,000 schools were forced to close or send children home due to the strike. Many strikers said that if they were organized into one union they would have a stronger voice.

NUT officials, in a recent issue of the union's magazine The Teacher, called for talks with other teaching unions in England and Wales to discuss the possibilities of forming one teachers union. The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, the second largest teaching union in England and Wales, has decided to initiate debate among its members on the NUT's proposal.

Seamus Sheridan is a member of the National Union of Teachers.  
 
 
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