Teachers from NEU to strike over pay in England and Wales

• NEU has declared that teachers will walk out in protest of their pay.
• NEU claims that due to high inflation rates, the 5% pay increased.
• About 300,000 members of the teaching and support staff voted yes.

The National Education Union (NEU) has declared that teachers will walk out in protest of their pay on seven occasions in England and Wales in February and March.

There will be nationwide strikes on February 1 and March 15 and 16. There are also a number of regional dates.

About 300,000 members of the teaching and support staff in England and Wales participated in the NEU’s poll, which makes it the largest education union in the UK.

Later this week, the education secretary says she will meet with union leaders.

Head teachers are expected to take “all reasonable steps” to keep schools open for as many pupils as possible during a strike, according to Department for Education guidance.

Head teachers in England won’t strike in the meantime because a ballot by the NAHT union fell short of the legally needed 50% turnout level.

The union claims that due to purported disruption from postal strikes, it is considering rerunning the election.

However, because the Welsh ballot received the required number of votes, NAHT members there will engage in strike action.

Any one school will only be impacted on a maximum of four of the seven dates, according to the NEU.

In 2022, the majority of state school teachers in England and Wales saw a 5% raise.

However, the NEU has claimed that due of high inflation rates of over 10%, the 5% pay increase offered to members actually amounts to a wage reduction.

Matthew Tyers, who voted yes to strike action, has been a PE teacher for seven years at E-ACT Parkwood Academy in Sheffield.

He says he was “massively conflicted” about voting yes, as he teaches a Year 11 group who are preparing for their GCSEs.

“It is such a terrible decision to have to make, a heart-over-head sort of decision,” he tells the Media.

Mr. Tyers believes nothing will change unless “some significant action” is taken.

He recently had a baby with his partner and has noticed the cost of heating the house and food bills going up.

He says he hopes the government will now listen and offer a “fair and equitable pay rise so that we can come to work not worrying about bills, gas, [or] electric but we can come with our sole focus – of improving students’ lives”.

Downing Street is calling on teachers to discuss their concerns rather than “withdraw education from children”.

“We would continue to call on teachers not to strike, given we know what substantial damage was caused to children’s education during the pandemic and it’s certainly not something we want to see repeated,” the prime minister’s spokesman said earlier on Tuesday.

The NASUWT union’s members in England and Wales voted to strike days prior to the NEU announcement, but the vote fell short of the required turnout for industrial action.

In Scotland, teachers have been on strike since before Christmas. 16 days of rolling action started on Monday, with two local authorities’ worth of schools participating daily.

Teachers from five unions are still protesting in Northern Ireland without calling a strike.

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