The National Education Union (NEU) will carry out an indicative ballot over a proposed 2.8% pay rise for teachers – which could lead to a vote on industrial action
Teachers will be asked whether they want to reject the Government’s offer of a 2.8% pay rise.
The National Education Union (NEU) will carry out an indicative ballot of its members from March 1 to mid April on proposal for wage hikes in England. If teachers reject the offer, the union will debate whether to hold a formal vote for industrial action – which could include strikes – at its conference in April.
The move was branded “extraordinary” by the Department for Education, with a spokeswoman saying the leadership of the country’s largest education union “needs to think long and hard about whose interests they are putting first”. The growing row over pay marks the first major test of the Labour Government’s relationship with the trade union movement.
Teachers and school staff took part in a wave of strikes in 2023, which led to serious disruption for students and some school closures. The dispute was resolved when teaching unions accepted a 6.5% pay rise and called off plans for a series of coordinated walkouts.
Teachers and headteachers in England received a fully funded 5.5% pay rise in September last year. But the NEU has raised concerns about this year’s proposal.
NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede said it was “not sufficient” to address the crisis in recruitment and retention of teachers. “The suggestion that an unfunded pay award can be paid for by making ‘efficiencies’ is an insult to a profession who have already endured 14 years of austerity,” he said. “No teacher or leader will be able to identify efficiencies without cutting staff or resources or both.”
He added: “Thousands of teachers voted for the change that Labour promised for education. They promised to invest in education, to recruit 6,500 teachers and to value education and to secure the life chances of our children.
“We need to see their commitment in deeds as well as words. Sentiment alone will not fill the excessive teacher vacancies nor will it deliver the world-class education our children deserve.”
In evidence to the pay review body last month(DEC), the Department for Education (DfE) said a 2.8% rise would “maintain the competitiveness of teachers’ pay despite the challenging financial backdrop the Government is facing”. It said: “The Department’s view is that a 2.8% teacher pay award would be appropriate for 2025/26.”
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The pay review body has not yet made its recommendations for the next academic year.
Downing Street urged teachers not to “put children’s learning at risk” by going on strike. A spokesman said: “As we continue to tackle unacceptable levels of school absence after millions of school days lost through both the pandemic and recent industrial action, we call on unions not to put children’s learning at risk and to put pupils’ interests first.
“We have been clear that future pay awards must be fair to both taxpayers and workers, especially when we are faced with unprecedented, inherited challenges, and the £22 billion black hole in the public finances. 2.8% is above the OBR’s inflation forecast for this year, and in the last three years, teachers have had a combined pay increase of more than 17%.”
A Department for Education spokesperson: “This is an extraordinary decision. In three years, teachers have had a combined pay increase of over 17%.
“As schools and families continue doing everything they can to improve attendance, and after the millions of school days lost through both the pandemic and recent industrial action, union leaderships need to think long and hard about whose interests they are putting first. For the government and the Education Secretary, it is always children who come first.”