The Department for Education is treating teachers with “utter contempt” over next year’s pay award, a union has claimed today.
The NASUWT teachers’ union has responded to a letter from the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, about why she has not yet given the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) a remit for considering next year’s pay award.
Ms Keegan told the union that the government “has to take time to carefully consider the operation of the pay round in any given year” and is working on issuing remit letters as soon as possible.
In response, the NASUWT accused the government of resorting to “weak excuses” to “delay” the process. It added that it believes this is “deliberately designed to pave the way for further real-terms pay cuts for the profession”.
Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, warned that “future industrial action cannot be ruled out”, unless the situation is addressed.
“Teachers are being treated with utter contempt in an attempt to delay what is looking increasingly likely to be more bad news on pay,” he said.
Last week, the NASUWT told Ms Keegan that it was in a new formal dispute with the department and accused her of “deliberately frustrating” the teacher pay process for next year.
Ms Keegan has now responded to the NASUWT saying that colleagues across government are working to get pay remit letters issued as soon as possible.
Each year the education secretary writes to the STRB, an independent body, asking for recommendations on teacher pay and conditions for the next year, and asking for it to come back with a report in May.
Ms Keegan wrote to the STRB on 15 November last year, but is yet to do so this term to set out the remit for teacher pay in 2024-25.
“It feels as though the secretary of state is resorting to weak excuses in order to continue to delay the commencement of the pay award process for 2024-25,” Dr Roach said.
“The profession has suffered the impact of cuts for far too long to be fooled or distracted by ministerial game playing. They will see this for what it really is - yet further confirmation that this government is trying to get away with paying teachers as little as possible, while ramping up their workloads and working hours.”
The NASUWT is not the only teaching union that has demanded answers on the STRB process.
The NEU teaching union has also written to the education secretary complaining about “delays” in starting the teacher pay process for next year.
In the letter, sent last week, the NEU said it did not see how Ms Keegan could fulfil the commitment she had made to settle the statutory process on teacher pay before the school budget cycle next year “when you are already starting it at least three weeks later”.
The DfE has been approached for comment.
