County Durham teaching assistants start 48 hours strike over pay cut row
Teaching assistants in County Durham manned picket lines on Tuesday morning on the first day of a 48 hour strike over a long-running pay dispute with the council.
Trade unions estimated more than 1,000 teaching assistants had joined the walkout.
More than 100 schools in the county will be fully or partially closed during the two-day strike on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Members of UNISON and ATL trade unions voted for strike action over plans to pay teaching assistants term-time only, which they say will mean some have their salaries cut by nearly a quarter.
Durham County Council says it has to remove the legal risk of equal pay claims from other staff.
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