TEACHERS will add to the Government’s difficulties today by striking over the cost of living in London.

More than two thirds of the capital’s schools are expected to close when members of the National Union of Teachers and the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers walk out.

In a sign of increased militancy since the start of the firefighters’ strike, the unions have tripled their pay demand. Mick Shaw, of the Fire Brigades Union, will address the strikers this morning.

Members of England’s third main teachers’ union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, will not be taking part, but an additional strike by Unison, which represents caretakers, dinner ladies and groundsmen, will make it hard for head teachers to offer even a skeleton timetable.

The teachers want a 100 per cent increase in the allowance, which is £3,105 for Inner London and £2,043 for Outer London. When they struck seven months ago on the issue, they wanted 33 per cent.

Local authorities expect more than 1,500 of London’s 2,200 primary and secondary schools to send pupils home. Most schools in Wandsworth, Lewisham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Newham are expected to close, and in Hounslow the figure is likely to be almost 100 per cent.

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “A large slice of staff in London are in the NUT and NASUWT so it will be hard for heads to open schools. The London staffing situation is pretty critical anyway, so the chance of heads being able to find extra teachers is pretty minimal.”

The unions have threatened longer and more frequent strikes and say that low pay and high housing costs are forcing thousands of teachers out of the city, leaving schools dependent on temporary or overseas staff.

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT, said that the Government failed to appreciate the true cost of living in London. “The huge number of overseas teachers who have had to be imported is not an answer to the problem,” he said. “The volatility this creates is not good for the children.” The strikers’ demands were backed yesterday by Tim Brighouse, the London Schools Commissioner, who has been appointed to revitalise the capital’s education system.

He said that teachers deserved the same allowances as Metropolitan Police officers — £6,000 a year and free public transport.

Mr Brighouse said: “We have to tackle this issue because teachers and other public sector workers are creating the capital’s future.”

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said: “We have increased London weighting by over 35 per cent in real terms since 1997. Striking will achieve nothing but damage to pupils, parents and teachers themselves.” He added that after seven years’ experience a good teacher in Inner London can expect to earn nearly £31,000.

Cross-union co-operation was extended further when Natfhe, the lecturers’ union, promised to hold collections for the Fire Brigades Union. Members of the union, representing the further education sector, are asking for a pay rise of 26 per cent, to establish parity with schoolteachers.

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