By Catherine Marston
BBC News |
 The normal morning routine in the Hedigan household involves getting five-year-old Emma and six-year-old Kyle old ready for school and the youngest, Briegan, ready for nursery.  Rachael Hedigan says the day off work will hit her weekly budget |
Today though the teachers' strike has caused chaos. Emma's school is operating as normal, but Kyle's is not. He's got to be at home for the day. So their mother Rachael has had to take the day off work, and has taken Briegan out of nursery to save money. Rachael says the whole situation has totally messed up the family's routine and has left her financially worse off. Rachael works four days a week in a small cafe just a few minutes from her home in Leeds. She is a single mother, bringing up three children alone. Money is extremely tight and she earns about �35 a day.  |  This week I've lost a day's wage so the shopping won't be what the shopping usually is |
So, taking a day off work has serious consequences for the household budget - this family can ill afford to lose �35. "You get used to your budget," Rachael explains. "You live by your budget and you know you've always got the couple of quid left every week for the silly things like bread and potatoes. "This week I've lost a day's wage so the shopping won't be what the shopping usually is." Disruption The family are stuck indoors on a rainy day, Kyle is restless and the two children are both running around full of energy. Rachael says her other daughter could not understand why her brother is off school today and even became upset about it. She feels the teachers who are striking have no idea of the disruption they are causing to ordinary families. Just up the road, her boss, cafe owner Phil Sands is trying to juggle the effects of the strike too. Knock-on effect He has just five members of staff and so anyone taking a day off causes an immediate disruption to the rotas, staffing and the business. Phil has had to call others in from their day off to help cover Rachael's absence and that has a knock on effect for staffing the following week. The cafe is bustling with mothers and toddlers today, the miserable weather has sent them inside, and Phil and his staff are very hectic. | People not working lose the money they would have earned |
His cafe in the West park area of Leeds is also just up the road from a large school and he's used to the pupils piling in every day for their food and boosting lunchtime sales. Today the school is shut and Phil knows takings will be affected. It's not a major headache but it is another way in which the strike is affecting his business. For a small business it's far harder to absorb the effects of the strike. "Obviously we've got a limited number of people working for us," Phil explains, "So to have one person off percentage wise is quite a big deal. "So for the other people working, perhaps they lose days off, and people not working lose the money they would have earned because they're not working that day". In West Yorkshire alone there are more than 400 schools affected by the strike. There will be many more businesses and families across England and Wales who are also counting the cost of today's strike.
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