Teachers to hold ballots

BALLOTS for strikes by hundreds of thousands of school staff will go ahead after crunch talks to avoid industrial action failed.

Teachers are set to walk out after no pay offer was made at a meeting between union bosses and Government ministers yesterday.

Three teaching union ballots will close this week, with strikes potentially taking place within weeks should they be successful.

The talks with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan were described as ‘largely unsatisfactory’ by school leaders with concerns over pay and teacher shortages ‘remaining unresolved’.

A staffing crisis has left many schools scrambling for teachers.

‘There’s nothing that’s happened today that would make us want to stop our ballot or put off strike action at the moment,’ said Kevin Courtney of the NEU union.

The meeting also featured the NASUWT, NAHT and ASCL unions. Discussions were ‘civil’ but became ‘pushy and tetchy’, a source said.