Union issues dire ultimatum over teacher strikes as they warn walkouts could last until the SUMMER

UNION chiefs put Gillian Keegan "on notice" today as they threatened MORE teacher strikes unless the Department for Education pays up.

The National Education Union warned school staff will do "whatever it takes" to achieve an inflation busting salary hike.

Strikes could "go into the summer term too" unless the Education Secretary agrees to a sector-wide pay rise by the end of the month.

Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: "Today, we put the education secretary on notice.

"She has until our next strike day for England, 28 February, to change her stance. NEU members do not want to go on strike again. They want constructive talks that deal directly with the long-standing concerns they experience in their schools and colleges every day.

"However, be in no doubt that our members will do whatever it takes to stand up for education, including further strike action, if Gillian Keegan still fails to step up with concrete and meaningful proposals." 

Teachers, civil servants, train drivers, security guards, bus drivers and airport staff are among the masses joining Walkout Wednesday in the biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade.

Data collected by DfE showed only 45.9% of schools fully opened.

Around 44.7% were open but restricting attendance and less than 10% were completely closed.

Millions of people are working from home leaving city centres resembling ghost towns with offices close to empty.

After today, a further six days of school strikes will take place across February and March.

At PMQs today Rishi Sunak slammed teacher strikes as he defiantly told MPs that kids "deserve to be in school".

"I am clear that our children's education is precious and they deserve to be in school today being taught," he said.

Mr Sunak accused Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of siding with union chiefs over suffering children.

"He can't stand up to his union bosses," the PM blasted.

"He can't stand up for Britain's schoolchildren today."

Labour recently opposed a new Bill to guarantee that vital public services run at minimum levels on strike days.

NHS workers, rail workers, firefighters and teachers could be forced to show up to the job in the future, even if they voted to strike.

A National Audit Office report out today shows disadvantaged children struggle to make up for lost learning as fast as richer classmates.

Nursery bosses, meanwhile, said they would suffer “quite a serious knock-on effect” as their staff struggle to find childcare today.

Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts said many parents will be “forced to work from home and take annual or unpaid leave to look after younger children.”

Meanwhile, train commuters are trapped at home as drivers strike, with more action on Friday.

Around 1,900 bus drivers in London have also started a three-day walk-out.

Queues will build up at airports as passport booth staff walk out but 600 military personnel will cover.

Some 100,000 civil servants across 124 government departments including the DVLA and Department for Work and Pensions have stayed out.

Seventy thousand University and College Union members at 150 sites are also off work.