Teachers strike for more pay

The National Union of Teachers called a one-day strike April 24 after the government offered a 2.45 percent raise. About one-third of the schools in England and Wales were affected by the strike.

“Teachers do not take the decision to strike easily, or lightly, but teachers’ patience has been stretched to the limit,’’ said Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the NUT.

“The Retail Price Index, which features on government Web sites as the figure used for pay bargaining, is currently running at a yearly average of 4.1 percent. The current pay offer of 2.45 percent is well below that and can be seen in no other way than as a pay cut,’’ she said.

Besides the demonstration of hundreds of thousands in London, pictured here, there were many other protests throughout England and Wales.

—G. Dunkel