H&F schools closed - but what about the little guy?

My kids won't be going to school on thursday. Like parents across H&F and indeed the country we'll be incurring the expense, the inconvenience and the expense of the nationwide strike being put on by the National Union of Teachers. Schools across our borough seem to be closing en masse and we received our letter last week informing us that the Head had "no option" but to close.

Did I mention "expense" twice? Yes, I did - because it's well worth a double mention. At the end of the day one extra days worth of childminding is not going to break my bank balance - but it will severely affect some people. Think of the single parent struggling to pay the bills as it is, with two or more part time jobs that barely cover the cost of the weekly shop. They probably served you in a shop today with a smile, or maybe even work inside a school themselves in a kitchen. Now they have to take a day off work and lose that day's pay - or else spend what will probably be even more than that days' pay on a childminder.

Trade Unions are there to fight for the interests of their members, as we see regularly from the RMT. But they don't at the moment appear to have public support with 63% against the strikes, according to this week's Economist. But nobody ever seems to think about the people those strikes hurt most - because those people, who aren't lucky enough to have a life-long secure job with a decent salary - don't have anyone to fight their corner.

Just a thought.