NEU teachers to take strike action over pay

NEU Union has announced strike action over pay after positive ballot results.

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 will be on Wednesday 1 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.

Three ballots for support staff were also conducted simultaneous to the teacher ballots in England and Wales.

In England, a ballot result of support staff in schools saw a 84.13% majority vote YES on a turnout of 46.46%. This result, despite being hugely in favour of action, just missed the Government's restrictive thresholds.

In Wales, a ballot result of support staff in schools saw a 88.26% majority vote YES on a turnout of 51.30%. This result passed the thresholds and support staff in Wales will be called to take action in their dispute on the dates below.

In England's sixth form colleges, a ballot result of support staff saw a 83.56% majority vote YES on a turnout of 36.23%. This result, despite being hugely in favour of action, missed the Government's restrictive thresholds.

The full list of projected strike days are as follows:

Wednesday 1 February 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales.
Tuesday 14 February 2023: all eligible members in Wales.
Tuesday 28 February 2023: all eligible members in the following English regions: Northern, North West, Yorkshire & The Humber.
Wednesday 1 March 2023: all eligible members in the following English regions: East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern.
Thursday 2 March 2023: all eligible members in the following English regions: London, South East, South West.
Wednesday 15 March 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales.
Thursday 16 March 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales.

Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National Education Union, 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."