STRIKING teachers will win their fight to protect pensions if they “stay solid and stay strong,” the National Education Union (NEU) stressed today.

On the first of six days of walkouts, joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted told a central London rally that workers “deserve better than this,” adding: “Be proud, stand up and carry on fighting.”

Twenty-three independent schools across England belonging to the Girls Day School Trust are being hit by the industrial action, which is set to continue until early March.