Gove criticises planned walkout by teachers

The planned walkout by teachers in England and Wales on Thursday is "unnecessary, premature and disruptive", Education Secretary Michael Gove has told MPs.

Summoned to the Commons to answer an urgent question tabled by shadow education secretary Andy Burnham on 28 June 2011, Mr Gove said the action by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) would cause "massive inconvenience to hard-working families".

Mr Gove added: "This strike, at this time will not help our schools."

He noted that, under current employment laws, "individual teachers have no obligation to tell their school or employer of the intention to strike in advance".

"Of course, we always keep the law under review," the education secretary remarked.

Mr Gove added that any parents with CRB checks would be able to help out on Thursday, if they could be properly supervised.

He also argued that teachers who decided to cross the picket line were "public spirited" and deserved support, and those who did go on strike were risking their reputations.

Mr Burnham agreed that the strike was a "mistake".

But he said the government "cannot evade its share of the responsibility for the disruption".

Mr Gove's department was handling the negotiations with teaching unions in a "reckless and provocative" way, he claimed.

Pensions were a "contract" that shouldn't be "changed unilaterally in this high-handed way", Mr Burnham said.

The government wants most public sector workers to pay more into their pensions, work for longer and accept a pension based on a "career average" salary, rather than the current final salary arrangement.