Applause as Derbyshire teachers, civil servants and union members march through Chesterfield in dispute over pay

Derbyshire teachers, pupils, parents civil servants and union members joined the rally as a part of nationwide strike over pay dispute and stricter striking laws.

About 300 people gathered at New Square and walked through the town, while over 100,000 teachers and support staff walked across England and Wales.

James Eaden, the President of Chesterfield and District Trades Union Council was one of the main organisers of Chesterfield’s rally, said: “Our march in Chesterfield today was led by a banner which demanded pay justice. And that was the key slogan of the demonstration. It's been a long time in this country since we've had the level of growth in strikes across so many different sectors.

“What makes these strikes different is the fact that in the past, very often, when workers went on strike, the public would be hostile or indifferent. But there's a lot of public support now and we felt it today.

"As we marched through town, we had shop workers coming outside their stores standing the doorways, applauding the march. It gave me a sense that people across the country understand that there's a real problem with the cost of living crisis and pay is too low for all the ordinary working people.

"Working people are being made to pay for the crisis in our society and deserve a decent pay rise. This is our main point. Everybody at the rally was saying how today is not simply one day, today is a continuation of an escalating movement of action.

"We got 300 people at the rally, significantly higher than what I expected which I think is a very positive sign we had. We had people coming from all over North Derbyshire to join the march and picket lines in front of many schools across the county. This is how significant this strike is.

"We have seen various groups striking over pay in the last few months, but this is the first time the teachers are striking. I'm a retired university and college lecturer so I'm very aware of the issues and crisis facing education workers.

"The issue of funding from Central Government is crucial to this dispute – there’s no good in teachers getting a pay rise unless schools are given the funds to pay those teachers. We can't have teachers being given a pay rise at the expense of cuts in jobs and services. The understaffing in education at the moment is already very similar to the understaffing in the health service.

"Today we had a parent with a child who has special educational needs saying how over recent years the level of support given to his child has been cut and cut again because of the lack of funding and the lack of staff.

“But our rally was also about defending the right to take strike. The government are pushing through new law through Parliament to further limit the rights of working people to take strike action. In this country already we have some of the most restrictive laws in Europe, about the ability to take strikes, and they want to make it even more difficult.”

Today is the first of seven planned days of national action in the space of just two months. The others are set for February 14, February 28, March 1, March 2, March 15 and March 16. Only the strikes on February 1 and on March 1, 15 and 16 affect the East Midlands.