Schools 'face new strikes' as unions set to back new industrial action Government sources said yesterday dismissed the threat of any strike, insisting there would be no U-turn on the planned pay reforms. If the NUT supports a strike the government will urge heads to keep schools open. Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, and David Laws, the Liberal Democrat schools minister, are said to be determined to force the changes through. "There is no way we will be changing our minds on performance-related pay, no matter how many strikes they pull," a Department for Education source told the Sunday Times. Last year Mr Gove was said to be putting the education department on a "war footing" in readiness for a battle with the unions. An NUT spokesman was unavailable for comment.