As reported by the National Education Union, letters to the education secretary ask for urgent action on pay and warning of strike action if no resolution
Commenting on the letters from the National Education Union (NEU) to the secretary of state for education on pay and strike action, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said:
“The NEU has today informed the education secretary that unless he gives an undertaking to make funding available for a fully funded above inflation pay increase for teachers and support staff in maintained schools and teachers in 6th Form Colleges in England, we will be formally balloting our members for strike action.
‘We have written to the education secretary today asking for urgent action to make sufficient funds available to avoid the possibility of a dispute. We remain ready to meet with Kit Malthouse and his team. If we do not receive this undertaking, we will be looking at dates to ballot our members in each section.
‘No one wants to take strike action, but education staff can no longer take year after year of below inflation pay increases which have had a major impact on the value of their pay since 2010. It is resulting in an exodus from the profession with almost one in three teachers in England leaving within the first five years. Government continually fails to meet its recruitment figures for teachers as the profession has now become so unattractive to graduates while support staff are asked to take on more and more work for pay that does not enable them to make ends meet.
‘We urge the education secretary to take this issue seriously and to act urgently. Failure to do so will ensure that we have an understaffed education system that will fail children and young people. It is in the government’s hands, and we hope for a swift resolution”.
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