Drivers and bus passengers in Nottingham faced significant delays as around 1,000 public sector workers marched through the city centre during a day of major strike action. People from several unions walked out on Wednesday (February 1) demanding better pay and conditions.
After workers - including teachers and train drivers - held pickets in the early morning, members from several unions came together for a march through Nottingham. Beginning at 11am outside the new Broad Marsh bus station and car park, the march made its way down Lister Gate and Albert Street before entering the Old Market Square.
A large crowd was already waiting at the Council House and the two crowds merged together for the rest of the march, which saw traffic being stopped along parts of Upper Parliament Street and the Maid Marian Way roundabout. Nottingham City Transport closed some bus stops at one stage of the day to allow the march to progress through the city, with most bus services facing delays.
Read more: Striking Nottingham teachers say education is at 'breaking point'
Wednesday was thought to be the biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade, with unions walking out across the country. In Nottinghamshire, people on strike included members of the National Education Union (NEU), the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and the University and College Union (UCU).
PCS member Charlotte Watts, who works for the Department for Education at Nottingham's Unity Square building, was one of those who made the decision to strike. She said: "I am having to do more and more work by the cost of living crisis and rising inflation means in effect that I am getting paid less for that work.
"I think the response from Government so far has been very poor and so I did make the decision to come out on strike today. It's not just about me, it's about getting younger people into the profession because on the current pay offer, they just don’t want to do it."
The most significant strike on Wednesday was by teachers, with at least 30 Nottingham schools affected by the industrial action. Kat Carrick, director of English at Bulwell Academy, explained why she was striking by saying: "We have more and more pupils who are having to be taught by non-specialists, only for them to leave the profession anyway.
"If I as the director of English put out a job advert, I just don’t get responses because even though we’re a fantastic school, teachers across the country have low pay and huge workloads. We need a pay rise funded by the Government, not one that is coming out of the mouths of our children. The last pay rise had to be funded by school budgets and so we had to make cuts elsewhere, which directly affects our pupils."
Also striking was Mike Gaunt, a teacher at the Farnborough Spencer Academy in Clifton, who said: "For years the Government has missed targets for the recruitment of teachers and we also have a retention problem because people are leaving the profession in their droves. Part of the reason for that is the poorly paid wage at the moment.
"Children are suffering because people in school are having to be taught by non-specialists in certain subjects. It's unfortunate to be losing a day's pay and it's unfortunate for children to be losing a day out of their education but we are standing up for better pay and conditions for public sector workers."
Train drivers from the ASLEF union were also on strike throughout Wednesday, with East Midlands Railway operating no services or rail replacement bus services. In terms of teacher strikes, another walk out affecting Nottinghamshire is planned to take place on March 1 and two further nationwide strikes are planned for March 15 and March 16.
The march through Nottingham eventually culminated at the Albert Hall building off Derby Road, with the venue running out of room to accommodate the hundreds of striking workers gathering to hear contributions from union leaders. As well as the next teacher strikes, other industrial action set to take place in Nottingham this month will be another walk out by Royal College of Nursing members at the Nottingham Universty Hospitals NHS Trust on February 6 and 7.
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