Striking teachers today posed for selfies outside Pret and sang on coaches as they travelled to picket lines while parents were forced to work from home.
Around seven million school pupils are being hit by the strikes as their teachers walked out across the country in a dispute over pay.
Today, union members took to Twitter to share their journeys to London to join protests – while one teacher supported the strike from a school trip to Greece.
But parents complained about having to juggle their work with childcare as their lives were again upended by industrial action.
Today also saw walkouts by junior doctors, civil servants, lecturers, Tube drivers, BBC journalists and Amazon workers in what is set to be the largest industrial action since a wave of strikes began last year.
Today, union members took to Twitter to share photos of them protesting in London
Union members from Birmingham came with t-shirts with the slogan ‘Tories lie bab’ after enjoying a singalong on their coach
One teacher expressed her support for the strikes from a trip to Greece
But parents complained about having to juggle their work with childcare as their lives were again upended by industrial action
Today’s strikes come as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reveals his first Budget.
The Chancellor unveiled plans for free childcare and extended the energy bill price guarantee, but did not announce any new cash for public sector workers which might help to break the deadlock.
Despite talks being held between unions and the Government, the public sector strikes remain deadlocked.
Some of the strikes, such as those by teachers, are only being held in England as progress has been made in Wales and Scotland.
Huge numbers of strikers joined a protest outside Downing Street while the Chancellor was delivering the Budget in the nearby House of Commons.
Union leaders will address a rally in Trafalgar Square and strongly criticise the Government over its handling of the public sector disputes.
Talks are continuing over the row with nurses, ambulance crews and other NHS workers, but there has been no progress in resolving the disputes with junior doctors, teachers and civil servants.
Tube stations in London were locked as services were crippled when drivers in Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union went on strike amid union warnings of cuts to pensions and conditions.
Finn Brennan of Aslef told the PA news agency that further strikes were ‘inevitable’ if the dispute is not resolved.
National Union of Journalists’ members at the BBC in England walked out in protest against proposed cuts to the broadcaster’s local radio output.
Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, has donated £3,000 to a strike fund for teachers and support staff in the area.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), told Times Radio he did not see parents as collateral damage in the strike.
‘But I do sincerely apologise to parents for the disruption to education today, and the disruption to their home and their working lives.
‘We think that parents understand the point that we’re making – that this generation of children, so hard-hit by Covid, has been ignored by this Government.’
He added: ‘It is no good politicians saying ‘Oh, the economy is not doing well, we’ll invest in five or six years time’.
‘This generation of children are in school now and they are losing out compared with other generations of children, and we are demanding investment for them.’
Striking members of the National Education Union (NEU) on Piccadilly march to a rally in Trafalgar Square
Junior doctors protest outside Saint Mary’s Hospital in Manchester as they strike amid a pay dispute with the government
A member of the Public and Commercial Services Union holding a banner reading ‘workers stand together’
Parents across England were having to make arrangements to look after their children because of the NEU strike.
Meanwhile junior doctors in the British Medical Association were on the third day of a 72-hour strike.
Up to 150,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services union and Prospect walked out in what was said to be the biggest civil service strike.
Members of the GMB working for Amazon in Coventry are striking all week over pay.
Members of the Aslef union at a picket next to Rickmansworth Underground Station during the Tube strike today
Rail workers from the ASLEF and RMT unions on strike outside Brixton Station in south London this morning
Last year the number of days lost to strikes totalled 2.47million, the highest level since 1989 when Margaret Thatcher was in power and more than 4million days were lost.
It was even worse earlier in the decade with more than 27million days lost in 1984. The disruption peaked in 1979 with more than 29million days lost, including 12million in September alone that year. The new figures pale in comparison, but show a steadily worsening pattern since last summer.
In August, 357,000 days were lost and in September it was 210,000 while October saw the number tick up to 422,000.
Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the National Education Union said ahead of Wednesday’s walkout: ‘We do not want to go on strike – we want to be in the classroom, teaching and supporting children and young people.
‘It continues to be a regret that our members have to take strike action, but we know that parents and the public understand the gravity of the situation around school funding and teacher recruitment and retention.
‘The NEU, as we have always stated, is prepared to enter talks at any point, and as and when through negotiation a reasonable offer from Government is made we will pause strike action while the offer is put to members.
‘This is exactly what happened last week in Wales. Gillian Keegan (Education Secretary) needs to take a leaf out of the Welsh Government’s book, stop playing politics and get down to serious negotiation.’
Passengers have been urged to check before travelling by Tube in London because of disruption caused by a strike by members of Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT).
Commuters queue for a bus at Euston Road in London as the Tube closures cause traffic chaos
