My daughter in law is a teacher, and I like everyone else used to think that oh yes they get 14  weeks holiday a year but I see my daughter in law working during her supposed holidays, preparing for the next term and sometimes still working at 10pm, planning and writing reports as well as the 'day job'! She is a mother to my grandchildren so that is another job she has. The teachers deserve all the help they can get, they work hard for the future of our next generation. The school my daughter law teaches at recently received an 'outstanding' Ofsted report, by no means an easy thing to get - it doesnt just happen but is due to the untiring effort the teachers put into making learning and living a wonderful experience. The government dont seem to worry about awarding themselves decent pay rises so why not the teachers, at least they deserve it!!! Thankyou

I am dismayed that professional people feel it is acceptable to resort to striking in order to improve their working conditions. If one is able to qualify as a teacher and to teach it should not be beyond ones ability to negotiate without resorting to such an unsophisticated tactic. In any case £25,000 to 40,000 p a is not an extreemly low salary. The timing, with the global economic slow-down taking hold and putting everyone under pressure, is remarkable. Do teacher really feel that they alone should be insulated from the reality of economic downturn and at the expense of a stretched public purse?

Teachers are very well aware of the stretched public purse! But Teachers and ALL other public sector workers have a right to be able to pay bills, it's just a shame that those in the private sector fail to play their part. Negotiation for better pay seems to have fallen on deaf ears and striking for the first time in twenty years proves it's a last resort.