Teachers' strike 'likely to continue into the new year' The Coalition insisted that the strikes were unjustified and were "not going to change Government policy." But speaking to the Telegraph, Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, indicated that a refusal to hold meaningful talks could lead to an extension of industrial action into the new year. "The issues are of such importance that our campaign of action will continue," she said. We will obviously be meeting shortly with our colleagues in the NUT to review where we go next, but I'm sure part of that will be to give the Secretary of State another opportunity to engage in talks with us. She said similar industrial action had already been called off in Wales after the Welsh government agreed to talks, adding: "The strike in England has been forced on us for two reasons: One, that the Secretary of State won't take seriously the concerns of teachers and, two, that he won't engage in genuine discussion." Christine Blower, NUT general secretary, said: "We do not want to be on strike but if we do not make teaching attractive there will be huge problems for recruiting and retaining good teachers. We urge the Government to set aside their prejudices and talk to the profession for the sake of everyone. More than 10,000 schools across England were threatened by Thursday's strike. The Department for Education insisted that only 27 per cent of schools were fully closed, although many others were forced to shut for individual classes. In the worst-hit areas, virtually every school was affected. This included Hounslow, west London, where only eight out of 70 schools fully open, while in Redbridge, north-east London, just seven out of 75 were unaffected. David Laws, the Schools Minister, insisted the Government would not cave in to union demands - creating an impasse. "I don't believe this strike is justified and it is not going to change Government policy," he said. These are reforms that are taking place across the whole of the public sector. They are, I'm afraid, necessary in these very difficult times where we have to get the budget back under control. Most teachers, I believe, accept that. A DfE source said: "We have made clear to the unions that pay and pensions policies are now settled, so this strike action to prevent heads paying good teachers more is pointless. The fact that only a quarter of schools closed shows ordinary teachers are more in touch with reality than their increasingly desperate union bosses.