Teacher strikes: Unions team up in England pay dispute

Teachers successful 4 unions successful England accidental they volition squad up connected immoderate onslaught enactment implicit wage - which could mean afloat schoolhouse closures successful the autumn term.

Only the National Education Union (NEU) has capable backing from members to organise walkouts astatine present. The adjacent onslaught volition beryllium connected Tuesday.

But the 3 different unions, including 2 for caput teachers, are asking their members whether they privation to strike.

The authorities said it had made a "fair and reasonable" wage offer.

The 4 unions teaming up successful the quality are the NEU, the NASUWT, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).

Paul Whiteman, NAHT wide secretary, called their determination to coordinate enactment an "unprecedented amusement of solidarity".

"School unit volition not enactment up with eroded pay, squeezed schoolhouse backing and unbearable workload and moving conditions immoderate longer - and we are afloat agreed unneurotic successful warring for change," helium said.

Many teachers are astir to beryllium asked for a 2nd clip whether they privation to strike.

Three of the unions already held ballots this year. However, erstwhile the results were announced successful January, lone the NEU had capable members voting to determination up to strikes.

NEU walkouts person been held since February, and it is astir to reballot its members - asking them whether oregon they would privation to proceed onslaught enactment into adjacent term.

The NASUWT national and the NAHT did not conscionable the turnout threshold needed to onslaught successful England successful their past ballots - but some are owed to reballot their members up of adjacent term.

The 4th union, ASCL, is owed to ballot members for the archetypal clip successful its history.

More than fractional of England's 22,000 schools either closed oregon partially closed connected NEU onslaught days successful February and March.

If members from aggregate unions, including caput teachers, were to locomotion retired together, it is apt determination would beryllium much afloat schoolhouse closures.

Katie Chilvers, a twelvemonth 1 teacher successful Birmingham, supports the NEU onslaught enactment and has walked retired this year.

But she did not instrumentality portion successful the latest onslaught connected Thursday due to the fact that she could not "justify" losing different day's pay.

"We're looking astatine astir £80 a time that we'd suffer retired on, connected average," she said.

She said she was uncovering different ways to enactment the cause, specified arsenic "spreading the word" connected societal media.

The NEU says members tin use to entree hardship funds.

Most authorities schoolhouse teachers successful England had a 5% emergence successful 2022, and a 3% emergence was recommended from September 2023.

But the unions privation above-inflation increases, and other wealth to guarantee immoderate wage rises bash not travel from schools' existing budgets.

After the February strikes, the authorities made a caller wage connection for schoolhouse teachers, which included a £1,000 one-off outgo this twelvemonth and a 4.3% wage emergence for astir unit successful September.

The starting wage for teachers successful England is besides owed to emergence to £30,000 a twelvemonth by September - a erstwhile authorities commitment.

All 4 unions rejected the offer. They said it was inactive not afloat funded, meaning schools would person had to marque cuts elsewhere to spend it.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the connection was nary longer connected the table, truthful the determination connected wage would present beryllium made by the autarkic wage reappraisal body.

A Department for Education connection said: "We person made a just and tenable teacher wage connection to the unions, which recognises teachers' hard enactment and commitment.

"We cognize schools are facing accrued costs similar vigor and staffing, and are providing an other £2bn successful each of the adjacent 2 years to screen those costs. As a result, schoolhouse backing is acceptable to emergence faster than forecast ostentation successful some 2023/24 and 2024/25."

The connection said schoolhouse backing would beryllium "at its highest level successful history, successful existent presumption per pupil" adjacent year, arsenic measured by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The IFS said successful December that the accrued backing would mean that schoolhouse spending per pupil "will turn successful existent presumption done to 2024 and volition instrumentality to astatine slightest 2010 levels".

Additional reporting by Sallie George.