School strike plan for November 24

FRANCE's biggest teaching union is calling for a national one-day strike next month.

The Fédération Syndicale Unitaire is planning the day of action on November 24 and is making contact with other teachers’ unions to encourage them to take part.

They are campaigning for better training and wages and a stop to an ongoing programme of job cuts, where thousands of retirees each year are not replaced.

If the national strike goes ahead it will be the first major one since last November, when about half of primary teachers and a fifth of secondary teachers walked out.

Since last year, education authorities have been required by law to provide a minimum level of service (service minimum d'accueil) in the event of a strike.

Staff must be on hand to look after primary school children, to allow their parents to still go to work.

The FSU claims more than 160,000 members across the public sector, in education, research, culture and the justice system.