Thousands join union

Thirty-four thousand school staff joined the NEU education union in just 11 days following its announcement of strike action on 16 January, according to the union’s joint general secretary Mary Bousted.

The trend was seen all over the country, including the Isle of Wight, where assistant district secretary Peter Shreeve told the local OntheWight website: “After the national ballot results, the local NEU were inundated with membership enquiries and how people could join the strike.”

He added that, “despite the Isle of Wight being a relatively small area, astonishingly 57 new members have joined since the ballot announcement – this is an impressive membership increase of about 7%. The fact that so many more new staff have joined speaks volumes. It illustrates the depth of their concerns.”