PICKET lines will be in place at a number of Cheshire West schools this week as the National Education Union (NEU) holds two days of strike action.

The union says that its members will be "out in force" with to continue their campaign to win a "fully funded, above-inflation pay rise." Strike action will take place on Wednesday, July 5 and Friday, July 7.

The move marks the seventh and eighth days of strike action for NEU members in England's state schools, with sixth form colleges taking an additional day of strike action in November 2022.

Pickets will be in place on both days at Chester International School, Saughall All Saints Church of England Primary and Weaverham High School.

In early April 2023, a pay and funding offer from Government was rejected by 98 percent of NEU members on a 66 percent turnout.

A re-ballot of NEU teacher members in state schools opened on 15 May and will close on 28 July.

Peter Middleman, NW Regional Secretary of the National Education Union, said: "It is with great reluctance that our members are taking further strike action, but teachers have been left with no choice.

"In stark contrast to Wales and Scotland, where settlements were reached months ago, the Government of England is intent on dragging its heels. Gillian Keegan has refused to engage and refused to meet with the education unions, in spite of the vast majority of teachers rejecting her initial pay and funding offer at the start of April.

"We want to find a solution but it seems the Government is more interested in political games. Having insisted that we must follow the advice of the School Teachers’ Review Body, Rishi Sunak and his Education Secretary are now saying the opposite. It is increasingly likely that the recommendations of the STRB for 2023/24, delivered to Keegan weeks ago, will not be followed. It is believed that the review body has recommended a 6.5 percent rise for teachers but she intends to suppress this unpalatable report until the end of term.

"In moving the goalposts, the Government is infuriating teachers and letting pupils down.

"There is a crisis in education. Schools and colleges are haemorrhaging staff, and those who remain are having to work unacceptably high numbers of additional hours in return for pay which continues to worsen in value. The Government's latest teacher census shows that a third have left the sector within five years of qualifying. They are missing their own training targets as a matter of routine, and teacher vacancies are up by 55 percent in just twelve months.

"The Government’s latest position is to let this continue, and to deliver yet another real-terms pay cut upon teachers.

"Gillian Keegan and Rishi Sunak should be aware that our dispute is not fading away. Members of the NEU are voting right now in a re-ballot, to extend our campaign into the autumn if no resolution on pay and funding is reached with Government. Education unions ASCL, NAHT and NASUWT are also balloting members on the same issues for strike action in the autumn term. This is not a good climate for Rishi Sunak to reject the review bodies after months of hiding behind them. It will simply embolden teachers to vote for further strike action.

"Gillian Keegan can avert strike action by publishing the STRB report and restart talks to find a serious solution to the dispute."

Labour frontbencher Stephen Morgan has accused the Government of failing to show leadership over the wave of industrial disputes.

The shadow schools minister told Sky News: "This Government is failing on strike action – they should be sitting around the table with trade unions and negotiating a deal that works.

"And we find that with rail, we find that with teachers, we find that with nurses and doctors.

"The Government have got to show leadership and end the chaos that we’re seeing with strike action."

He said Education Secretary Gillian Keegan should be “apologising for the disruption that children will face this week” as members of the National Education Union walk out in England on Wednesday and Friday.