A national commission should be established to boost teachers’ pay, a teaching union has said.
The NASUWT has called for the creation of a new body to “restore the independence of the pay review process” and help teachers’ pay recover from the stagnation it has undergone long term.
“We are calling today for a new National Commission on Teachers’ Pay that is tasked with making teaching the profession of first choice once again,” said Dr Patrick Roach, the union’s general secretary.
He said the commission would work with “the profession and the government, after the general election, to secure the foundations for a renewed national framework of pay and conditions across all state-funded schools”.
The NASUWT said the next government should be obliged to act on the new commission’s decisions and recommendations.
Teacher pay rises
The Institute for Fiscal Studies recently found teacher pay, on average, has fallen by larger amounts than the public sector as a whole since 2010.
The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) currently makes recommendations on teacher pay increases.
The Department for Education has recommended to the STRB that the teacher pay increase should be lower than previous years this year.
NASUWT members recently voted against moving to a formal ballot for industrial action over pay.
At the union’s annual conference, it was announced that 78 per cent of members who took part in the consultative ballot had rejected moving to the statutory vote.
Dr Roach added: “Our members want to see lasting solutions that will repair our broken system and restore the status of teachers.
“A National Commission on Teachers’ Pay could help to deliver that progress and put teachers back at the top of the agenda for government.”
At the conference, NASUWT members also voted on a motion to lobby political parties to secure a new deal for teachers in the run-up to the next general election.
The union said a better deal for teachers was the only way to counteract “dystopian levels” of workload and stress, as well as pay restoration.
Teacher financial worries
A recent survey of members by NASUWT found that 88 per cent described themselves as worried about their current financial situation.
In addition, 63 per cent said financial worries had impacted their working life, with 11 per cent reporting they had even taken a second job.
Members of the NEU teaching union, which is holding its conference this week, have backed strike action in an indicative ballot.
With a turnout of 50.3 per cent, nine in 10 teachers said they would support taking strike action again over pay.
A DfE spokesperson said: “The independent STRB is currently considering evidence for this year’s pay award and unions should engage with this process and not pre-empt the publication of the pay recommendations.”
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