Damaging children

I am a parent who has been severely affected by the strike. While I understand the nursery nurses' position, my five-year-old son is stuck at my elderly parents' house, day in and day out, when he should be mixing and learning with children his age. A friend has lost her job due to the strike as she has no family close by to help look after her child and her employer became less and less sympathetic to her constant requests for time off at short notice because of all the other strike days and weeks.