The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) says it has asked members across the country if they would support a strike ballot, for the first time since it was established in its current form in 2006.
The move ”is a sign of how frustrated people feel after over a decade of real-terms pay cuts”, according to general secretary Geoff Barton.
The Department for Education has awarded experienced teachers - including school leaders - a 5 per cent pay rise from this month, though has not raised school budgets accordingly.
Largest teaching union the NEU has already set a date for a preliminary ballot for strike action later this month, while NASUWT said it was “committed” to balloting its members on industrial action in the autumn term if an improved pay deal is not forthcoming.
ASCL previously said it was consulting with members over “long-term pay erosion…and asking them what steps they want to take next”.
The union’s director of policy Julie McCulloch told Tes last month that this would include the option of industrial action, which she said could be “action short of strike action rather than an actual walk-out”.
However, ASCL has now confirmed that it has asked members whether they would be in favour of ”an indicative ballot for action short of strike action - such as withdrawing from certain tasks - or strike action”.
Mr Barton said: “We have never felt the need to ask this latter question before and the fact that we are doing so is a sign of how frustrated people feel after over a decade of real-terms pay cuts.”
The union is surveying teachers on pay proposals for 2022-23, both in terms of how it affects them and their intention to stay in the profession, as well as how it affects recruitment and retention.
So far, more than 2,000 responses have been received, and this feedback will be included in ASCL’s response to a government consultation on the pay proposals.
Following the pay announcement earlier this year, Mr Barton said that the government had managed ”at a single stroke to put schools on the brink of a full-blown funding crisis while also further damaging the teacher supply line on which they depend”.
The NAHT school leaders’ union also said it would carry out a consultation with members over the summer. However, it has not confirmed whether this covers strike action.
Last month, a survey conducted by NASUWT found that nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of the 8,751 teacher members who responded said the pay award should be rejected as inadequate or unacceptable.
The GMB union is also currently balloting more than 100,000 local government workers - including school staff - over an offer from local government employers announced in July.
The proposed pay rise for school support staff is worth an extra 10.5 per cent for the lowest-paid support staff and 4 per cent for the highest-paid employees.
The GMB ballot is set to close on 21 October; the union has said it will consult on what steps to take next if members reject the deal.
The pay rises and their impact on school finances are contributing to warnings that schools face a “catastrophic winter” amid five-fold energy price hikes.
