NEU (National Education Union) members in England and Wales and support staff in Wales have voted overwhelmingly for strike action and the ballot has successfully surpassed the restrictive thresholds set by government for strike action.
The question put was: ‘Are you prepared to take strike action in furtherance of this dispute?’
For the ballot of teachers in England, a 90.44% majority voted YES on a turnout of 53.27%. In Wales a 92.28% majority voted YES on a turnout of 58.07%.
The union is declaring seven days of strike action in February and March, though any individual school will only be affected by four of them.
The first will be on Wednesday 1st February, affecting 23,400 schools in England and Wales.
Teacher members in sixth form colleges in England, who have already been balloted and taken strike action in recent months, will also take action on these days in a separate but linked dispute with the Secretary of State.
Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the NEU, said: ‘We have continually raised our concerns with successive education secretaries about teacher and support staff pay and its funding in schools and colleges, but instead of seeking to resolve the issue they have sat on their hands.
‘It is disappointing that the government prefers to talk about yet more draconian anti-strike legislation, rather than work with us to address the causes of strike action.
‘This is not about a pay rise but correcting historic real-terms pay cuts. Teachers have lost 23% in real-terms since 2010, and support staff 27% over the same period.
‘The average 5% pay rise for teachers this year is some 7% behind inflation. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, that is an unsustainable situation.
‘The government has also been happy to sit by as their own recruitment targets are routinely missed.
‘Teachers are leaving in droves, a third gone within five years of qualifying. This is a scandalous waste of talent and taxpayers’ money, yet the government seems unbothered about the conditions they are allowing schools and colleges to slide into.
‘The reasons for the recruitment and retention crisis are not a mystery; the reports in the last week from the IFS and the NFER confirm the NEU argument.
‘The government must know there is going to have to be a correction on teacher pay. They must realise that school support staff need a pay rise.
‘If they do not, then the consequences are clear for parents and children. The lack of dedicated maths teachers, for example, means that one-in-eight pupils are having work set and assessed by people who are not qualified in the teaching of maths.
‘Anyone who values education should support us in this dispute because that is what we are standing up for.’
