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teachers’ union has announced fresh strike dates set to take place during the summer term.
More than 191,000 teachers in England voted to reject education secretary Gillian Keegan’s offer, reflecting 98 per cent of members on a turnout of 66 per cent.
The National Education Union (NEU) previously criticised the “insulting” pay offer made by ministers.
NEU said the offer of a 4.3 per cent wage increase for the majority of teachers and a £1,000 lump sum payment for the academic year 2023–2024 was insufficient.
Last month, NEU members staged a first round of strikes and an estimated 23,400 schools were affected over the seven days of action.
According to the NEU, 85 per cent of schools were impacted in some way, as up to 200,000 members took to the picket line, in the most significant day of industrial action in a decade.
Now, strikes are set to take place on April 27 and May 2.
Teachers Strike | Wednesday 1st February 2023
How much do teachers earn?
A teacher’s salary is determined by the school’s governing board and is based on an appraisal.
It depends on whether a teacher is qualified or not, and where they are based.
Typically, a teacher’s salary ranges from £28,000 to £38,810, and a teacher on the upper scale can earn between £43, 684 and £50,614.
By September 2023, a teacher’s starting salary is set to be £30,000.
On average, teaching assistants earn around £19,955.56 per year in the UK.
Why are teachers striking?
Teacher’s salaries have fallen over the past decade, with senior teachers experiencing a 13 per cent real-terms drop in salaries between 2010 and 2022, which is the equivalent of a £6,600 pay cut, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The majority of state school teachers in England and Wales had a five per cent pay rise in 2022, but unions say this actually results in a pay cut, as inflation is more than 10 per cent.
Similarly, in Scotland, teachers rejected a five per cent increase.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, accused ministers of failing to negotiate meaningfully on pay and said teachers had been “forced to stand up”.
She added that teachers struggling to make ends meet had been left facing a “catch-22” over whether or not to take part.
This is an insulting offer from a government which simply does not value teachers
What has the Government said?
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “There are no great schools without great teachers, which is why we are making the highest pay awards in a generation — five per cent for experienced teachers and more for those early in their careers, including an 8.9 per cent increase to starting salary.
“We are also investing an additional £2 billion in schools next year and £2 billion the year after, taking school funding to its highest ever level.
“After two years of disrupted education for young people, strike action is simply not a reasonable solution.”
The spokesperson later added about the offer: “The Government and the education unions — NAHT, ASCL, NEU, and NASUWT — have engaged in intensive discussions over the last 10 days.
“The Government has put forward a fair and reasonable offer, backed with funding for schools. The offer provides an average 4.5 per cent pay rise for next year, puts £1,000 into the pockets of teachers as a one-off payment for this year, and commits to reducing workload by five hours each week.
“This is a good deal for teachers that acknowledges their hard work and dedication.”
A fresh round of teachers’ strikes could disrupt exams after their union recommended rejecting an ‘insulting’ pay offer from the Government
/ Andrew Matthews / PAWhat did the NEU say about the ballot result?
Commenting on the result, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National Education, said: “This resounding rejection of the Government’s offer should leave Gillian Keegan in no doubt that she will need to come back to the negotiating table with a much better proposal.
“The offer shows an astounding lack of judgement and understanding of the desperate situation in the education system.”
The statement added: “No teacher wants to be on strike. Nor can they accept this offer that does nothing to address the decades of below-inflation pay increases making them the worst-paid teachers in the UK. The offer will do nothing to stem the teacher recruitment and retention crisis which is so damaging to our children and young people’s education.
“The education secretary has united the profession in its outrage at this insulting pay offer. It is now for her to rectify that situation by starting to value education. The NEU is ready as we have stated all along to negotiate with ministers, but this time we hope a lesson has been learned. Gillian Keegan needs to start negotiations with respect for the profession she is supposedly representing in Government.”
The union also addressed teachers and said: “To parents, we say that we have no wish to disrupt education, indeed our action is aimed at getting the Government to invest in the education of this generation of children and the people who teach them.
“We are asking our school reps to plan with headteachers to ensure that year 11 and year 13 students have a full programme of education on the upcoming strike days.”
