Teachers in York were back on picket lines today as they staged another strike in a long-running dispute over pay.

Across England, teacher members of the National Education Union walked out for the seventh day of strike action since February, with another planned strike date to follow on Friday (July 7).

A number of pickets were planned outside York primary and secondary schools, although more primary schools remained open than during previous strikes.

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Speaking on the strikes, Councillor Jonny Crawshaw, of City of York Council's Micklegate Ward, tweeted: "Solidarity with striking NEU teachers today.

"I know how reluctant you are to take industrial action. I want you to know you have my full support as a councillor, a school governor, and as a parent of two school age children.

"Government chooses to perpetuate this awful situation, not you!"

Union leaders have warned that schools could face more strike action in the autumn term if a deal over pay cannot be reached.

Michael Kearney, NEU secretary for York, said: "Teachers in York and nationally are as determined as ever to continue the fight to win better funding and pay for schools.

"Our resolve is only growing stronger due to the government not negotiating in good faith and failing to come forward with enough funding to prevent the continuing job cuts, increasing class sizes and diminishing support services for our students.

"Parents in York will be able to see the never-ending reductions in staff numbers, the high turnover of teachers and the inability to access specialist services - this is highly damaging to our children's education in the long-term.

"On top of this, the government is now preparing to ignore the advice of the independent pay review body which is another slap in the face for our teachers who are working the longest unpaid overtime of any profession in the country.

"The situation is so dire it is likely we will be joined in our action by the headteacher union in September.

"We want to reach an agreement to end this dispute and have already done so in Scotland and Wales. This shows that the only hurdle to a resolution is Conservative ideology, intransigence and incompetence - and it is our schools that are paying the price."

The Government offered teachers a £1,000 one-off payment for the current school year (2022/23) and an average 4.5 per cent rise for staff next year.

But all four education unions involved in the dispute rejected the offer and the decision on teachers’ pay in England for next year has been passed to the independent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).

A Department for Education 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).”