MORE than 1,000 Bordon pupils were forced to stay at home on Wednesday due to a national one-day strike by a number of council workers over pay.

The doors of both Mill Chase Community School and The Meadow Special School were closed to pupils on the day due to the strikes.

And, according to a parent, the teachers at Mill Chase were advised by headteacher Tony Philpott not to attend school on the day.

But Meadow School teachers did go into work and instead of teaching around 240 children the teachers prepared for forthcoming classes.

Kitchen staff at both schools were not working, although the Meadow School told The Herald that its kitchen staff were not employed by the school but by the county council.

Fourteen learning support assistants at the Mill Chase Road special school said they would not be turning up for work on the day and because of this the school decided it would not be opening to pupils.

Unison representative and learning support assistant, Helen Lee, told The Herald that it would not have been feasible to open the special school while some staff were striking.

ÒBecause of the special needs of the Meadow School pupils it would not have been appropriate to open the school with the learning support assistants not working,Ó said Mrs Lee, of Lindford.

And the Meadow SchoolÕs caretaker was not working on the day, but, according to a school spokesperson, this was due to sick leave and not the strike action.

Letters were sent home to pupils of both schools earlier this week, notifying the parents that the schools would be closed on Wednesday.

And Mrs Lee, whose two children, Nathan and Rachel, attend Mill Chase, said that the strikes were necessary.

ÒNHS workers have been given a pay rise but we have only been offered a three per cent increase which is not really good enough,Ó she said.

And she said she hoped the national strikes would make the local authorities Òstand up and take noticeÓ but doubted that would be the case

Two other Bordon schools were affected by the strikes, with kitchen staff and a learning support assistant not turning up for work, but the schools were still able to open to pupils.

WednesdayÕs stoppages were the first national council workersÕ strikes since the Winter of Discontent 23 years ago but Mrs Lee warned that if a better pay deal was not forthcoming more strikes would follow.

The national strikes also saw local social services staff refuse to work in a bid to secure Òfair payÓ.

According to senior steward for the Transport & General Workers Union (T&G), Richard Bambridge, the decision to take industrial action followed a ballot of the three local government unions - T&G, UNISON and GMB.

The three unions showed a strong majority in favour of standing out for a six per cent pay rise and a minimum wage of £11,000.

Social Services staff were running an emergency service, however, with the vulnerable a priority - child care, mental health and care for the elderly, with staff at HCC run homes continuing to work.

Other areas affected by strike action included home care, environmental health, housing, planning, transport - including traffic wardens, refuse collection, catering and cleaning.

But East Hampshire District Council workers were not affected by the strike, as EHDC spokesman Steve Bradley said the council had already struck a deal above the three per cent increase.

Described as Òthe forgotten army of the low paidÓ, the strikersÕ action was designed to highlight the need for local government to invest in fair pay in order to deliver quality local services.

ÒTwo thirds of the local government workforce earn less than the average allowance paid to council leaders, which is £12,403,Ó pointed out Mr Bambridge.

The issues speak for themselves. First and foremost the dispute is about low pay.

While the national basic average wage stands at £19,046, two-thirds of council employees earn less than £13,044.

Of 277,000 employees across the country, 90 per cent of whom are part-time women, earn less than £5 an hour.

The gender gap is a sensitive issue. Women in local government earn just 66 per cent of male workersÕ weekly earnings, a yawning gap of 34 per cent.

ÒThose working at the coal face - the carers, clerks and cleaners, tend to be women and they are the worst paid. These are the people we are really fighting for,Ó said Mr Bambridge.

And he explained that in Hampshire they had suffered a double blow from the growing divide between frontline workers and management.

While the lowest paid are being offered a three per cent increase HCC has agreed, for the second year running, to award its managers five per cent.