MAJOR strike action is set to take place across Worcestershire tomorrow as thousands of teachers plan to form a picket line.

Hundreds of Worcestershire teachers, who are members of National Education Union (NEU), will be striking due to disputes over pay and working conditions. 

Strikes will be taking place on Wednesday and Friday (July 7) and will affect state schools and sixth-form colleges across England.

Cathedral Plaza in the city centre will be filled with NEU Worcestershire members on a picket line from 11am to 12pm.

The strikes will mark the seventh and eighth day of action since February.

It also comes after almost 100 per cent of NEU members rejected a pay and funding offer from Government in April.

A spokesperson for the union said: "Our sister unions held similar votes with equally compelling results.

"The message to education secretary Gillian Keegan was loud and clear."  

However, a re-ballot of NEU teacher members in state schools opened in May and will close on Friday, July 28. 

"We are taking strike action with great reluctance," said Sean McCauley, joint branch secretary of Worcestershire NEU.

"But teachers are left with no choice when faced with a Government that refuses to negotiate on the issue of a fully-funded pay increase for teachers in England," he added.

Stikes will continue as the NEU continues to campaign to win a fully-funded pay rise above inflation. 

Mr McCauley said: "The responsibility for this inaction lies with the Education Secretary.   

 "Gillian Keegan is causing chaos for schools and colleges on a daily basis. She is content to oversee an education system which is haemorrhaging staff, and where those who remain are having to work unacceptably high numbers of additional hours for pay which continues to worsen in value."

"In April, when Gillian Keegan's insulting offer to teachers on pay and funding was roundly rejected by four unions and the vast majority of the profession, she said we must wait for the pay recommendations of the School Teacher Review Body for 2023/24.

"She has used this as an excuse to do nothing.

"Her end-of-term record is one of absenteeism and a shocking dereliction of duty."

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said: “Any strike action is hugely damaging. We have made a fair and reasonable pay offer to teachers, recognising their incredible work and commitment.

“Thousands of schools received significant additional funding as part of the extra £2 billion of investment we are providing both this year and next.

“As a result, school funding will be at its highest level in history next year, as measured by the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies).”