INDUSTRIAL action in English schools is back on the agenda after three education unions – the NEU, NAHT and ASCL – decisively rejected the offer made by education secretary Gillian Keegan of a 4.5% pay rise with a one-off payment of £1,000.
The bulk of the improved pay offer would have had to come from school budgets which unions have repeatedly said are already at breaking point in many places.
The NEU reports that the pay offer was refused by an overwhelming 98 per cent (191,319) of its teacher members in England, on a turnout of 66%. Just 2.2% (4,245) voted to accept it.
Sixty-four per cent of the eligible membership of the head teachers’ NAHT union responded to its ballot, with 90% voting to reject the offer. And 92% said it was unaffordable as they did not have the headroom in their budget to be able to afford the proposed pay offer.
In the ASCL ballot, 56% of eligible members responded, with 87% voting no, with a majority of those saying that the inadequacy of the additional funding provided to schools was the deciding factor for them.
At time of going to press the NASUWT union is currently considering the pay offer.
NEU joint general secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said: ‘The offer shows an astounding lack of judgement and understanding of the desperate situation in the education system.
‘We have written to the education secretary informing her of the next two days of strike action on 27 April and 2 May that NEU teacher members in England will now be taking. The education secretary has united the profession in its outrage at this insulting pay offer.’
Geoff Barton, ASCL general secretary, commented: ‘The government’s pay offer is inadequate in every respect. It fails to address long-term pay erosion, the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, or provides enough funding for schools to be able to afford even the meagre pay award that is on the table.
‘We will now meet with our senior elected members on our executive committee after the Easter break to discuss what action we take next.
‘We are aware that there will be speculation about whether we will move to a formal ballot on industrial action, a step we have not yet taken because we have been focused on trying to resolve this situation through negotiation.’
Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, described the union’s ballot result as a ‘conclusive response to the government’s offer’. He added: ‘It has been judged inadequate and unaffordable.
‘Our members do not recognise the government’s calculations on the affordability of the offer, with the vast majority of head teachers and school business leaders saying they could not pay the rise from their existing budgets.
‘The NAHT’s national executive will now meet to discuss the next steps, including a formal ballot on industrial action.’
Meanwhile, the NAHT announced that, for the first time in its 125-year history, members will strike over pay, as NAHT Northern Ireland joins other teaching unions in industrial action on 26 April.
