England’s biggest teaching union has said that teacher “engagement and anger” will need to be “ramped up” for its campaign on teacher pay and school funding to succeed.
The warning follows the NEU teaching union’s decision to hold an indicative ballot of members over next year’s teacher pay award.
In a briefing to members, the NEU says it plans to “agitate” when the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) submits its report to the education secretary, which is expected in mid-May.
The NEU said its indicative ballot - set to launch on 2 March - will conclude ahead of the union’s annual conference in spring.
Members would then vote on a formal ballot for strike action, the union has said.
The briefing says the NEU would aim to “secure a strike mandate before the end of summer term”.
It says: “Mindful of what made our ballots and strike action effective last year, your executive also recognised that member engagement and anger need to be ramped up to be confident our ballots pass the legal thresholds.”
The briefing also claims that, while “there was clear evidence of member anger and the need for action” last year, engagement has now fallen.
“To be ballot-ready we need a concerted period of member agitation to significantly boost member engagement and anger,” it states.
In order for unions to legally take strike action, at least 50 per cent of members must vote, with at least 40 per cent of eligible members voting to strike.
But the union has said that its goal is a turnout of more than 60 per cent, with 90 per cent voting to strike.
Preliminary strike ballot
The NEU said that, “subject to legal advice”, the preliminary ballot will ask members whether they are prepared to take strike action for additional funding “to secure a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise that constitutes a meaningful step towards a long-term correction in pay and education provision and resources”.
The union said that as soon as the National Joint Council employers’ pay offer is known, the NEU will consult support staff members “along similar lines”.
Last year, the government faced months of teacher walkouts by NEU members, with all four major education unions backing industrial action in disputes over pay and workload.
This industrial action mostly came to an end after the unions accepted a pay offer from the Department for Education giving teachers and leaders a 6.5 per cent rise from September 2023.
But in a letter to the STRB last year, education secretary Gillian Keegan said that the body should consider the impact of pay rises on school budgets and the cost pressures that schools are facing.
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