Headteachers and school leaders in the NAHT union in England have not hit the turnout threshold for industrial action in the union’s first strike ballot on pay in its 125-year history.
A total of 87 per cent of ballots recorded a “yes”’ vote for action short of a strike, and 64 per cent voted “yes” to a strike.
But the turnout of 42 per cent fell short of the 50 per cent figure needed under government rules.
In order for strike action to be legal, at least 50 per cent of eligible members must vote in a strike ballot, with 40 per cent of all eligible members approving the action.
The union said it would consider re-running its ballot.
NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said: “It is incredibly frustrating that anti-trade union and anti-democratic legislation compelled us to conduct the ballot by post during a period in which the management of the Royal Mail refused to take action to ameliorate the disruption to the postal service.”
In the final week of the ballot, the NAHT surveyed members who had recently requested a ballot paper and 73 per cent of respondents said they had still not received one.
And the union said that there was a sharp contrast between the turnout in its electronic consultative ballot for England, which received 64 per cent, and the postal ballot.
NAHT could ‘start again’ with strike ballot
Mr Whiteman added: “We have to conclude that our democratic process has been compromised by factors outside of our control.
“It is ironic that legislation which the government claims protects the democratic rights of members has actively worked against that objective by not affording an alternative means of voting or allowing a clear ability to extend the deadline. It is notable that elections for party leaders are not constrained in the same way.
“There has been a very strong appetite for action from those we have heard from, with a higher percentage voting ‘yes’ to both strike and action short of strike than in our consultative online ballot. It is clear our members’ resolve to stand up for themselves and for education has only hardened.”
Mr Whiteman continued: “If our members feel that they have not had the chance to be heard during this ballot, it may be that we have no option but to start again.”
The union’s national executive committee will meet this week to establish next steps.
The NAHT remains formally in dispute with the government, Mr Whiteman said.
School leaders in Wales have, however, voted to take industrial action. NAHT Cyrmu today announced that 95 per cent of its ballot respondents voted “yes” to action short of a strike, and 75 per cent voted “yes” to a strike, with a 55 per cent turnout.
Last week the NASUWT teaching union said that its members would not walk out, despite 90 per cent of returned ballots calling for strike action, because the 42 per cent ballot turnout failed to reach the legal threshold for industrial action.
But today it announced that it would be balloting members again.
And a new round of pay strikes started in Scotland today, with teachers in two of the country’s 32 local authorities walking out for each of the next 16 days. There have been several strikes since the historic walkout on 24 November - the first national teacher strike over pay in Scotland since 1984-85.
Teaching unions in Scotland are campaigning for a 10 per cent pay offer, but the Scottish government has not made any advance for several months on 5 per cent for the majority of teachers and 6.85 per cent at most (for probationer teachers at the start of their career).
On Friday the EIS, Scotland’s largest teaching union, announced 22 more days of strike action between 28 February and 21 April.
Downing Street has urged teachers not to strike and inflict “substantial damage” on children’s education.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “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.
“We would hope they would continue to discuss with us their concerns rather than withdraw education from children.”
