OFSTED school and nursery inspections in Wigan are being hit by strike action today.
More than 1000 staff from the union Public and Commercial Services and Unison have walked out in a pay dispute.
Inspections of nurseries, children's care homes, childminding services and boarding schools have been halted.
Management at Ofsted h
as imposed a below inflation pay deal along with a new pay structure, which the unions have rejected.
The unions say the only guaranteed increases being offered are two per cent in the first year and one per cent in each of the next two years.
UNISON National Officer for Ofsted Helga Pile said: "Our members working in Ofsted have been left with no choice but to strike.
"After a winter of making difficult choices between paying the gas or electricity bill, they have been offered a miserly pay deal. What's more, they have also had a divisive new structure imposed upon them.
"The employers must get their act together and come back to the table with a more realistic offer. Our Ofsted members are loyal public sector workers, not hard-liners prone to strike.
"However, they are disappointed and very angry at employers who are constantly demanding more work for less pay."
Neil March, PCS Negotiations Officer for Ofsted, said: "If Ofsted wanted to avoid this industrial action it should have demonstrated a commitment to an improved offer with decent cost of living increases to all staff, instead of leaving significant numbers with no pay increase for two years."
But a spokesman for Ofsted insisted: "School inspections will not be affected by threats of strike action by Unison. The new pay deal improves reward arrangements for the vast majority of staff."
The full article contains 288 words and appears in Wigan Evening Post newspaper.
