The largest education union has urged its members to reject the government’s pay offer to teachers, calling it ”insulting”.
After a period of intensive talks, the Department for Education has made all four teaching unions the offer of a £1,000 non-consolidated payment for 2022-23 and an average 4.5 per cent rise for 2023-24.
But the NEU has this evening urged its members to reject the pay offer from the government to show the DfE that members “will no longer put up with their treatment of the profession”.
A rejection will result in two further days of strike action on Thursday 27 April and Tuesday 2 May, the union has said.
The NEU executive added that it has agreed to seek local agreements with headteachers to ensure exam preparation is not interrupted for Years 11 and 13.
The union is demanding a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise for teachers and support staff.
A government source told Tes that the NEU teaching union had tonight “unilaterally breached the confidentiality of this deal, undermining their sister unions” in advising members to reject it.
The source added: “They are risking next year’s pay going back into the normal STRB process and teachers losing the offer of an extra £1000 this year.”
Last month, the DfE recommended a pay rise of 3 per cent for experienced teachers in 2023-24 in its evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).
The government says the latest pay deal equates to a pay rise of at least £1,880 (4.3 per cent) for experienced teachers and £2,000 for new teachers outside of London in 2023-24.
Following discussion by the national executive committee on Saturday 25 March, the NEU will put the latest offer to its members, recommending a rejection. The ballot opens today and closes on Sunday 2 April.
The NEU says that the deal means teacher pay in England will fall “significantly behind Wales and Scotland”, is not fully funded, and will not resolve the recruitment and retention crisis.
It says the government believes schools will be able to accommodate the 4 per cent increase in teacher pay for 2023-24 and that just the 0.5 per cent will be covered by extra funding.
A government source told Tes that the 4 per cent was affordable owing to an expected fall in energy prices. However, this may not benefit schools on multi-year deals.
However the NEU said tonight that its analysis shows that between 40 and 58 per cent of schools will not be able to pay the rise without making cuts.
The NEU had asked for automatic pay progression, but the DfE instead said it would offer to remove the statutory requirement for performance-related pay, “along with ensuring a light-touch, developmental and robust appraisal process for teachers.”
On work-life balance, the NEU asked for a requirement for every school to have a work-life balance policy. The government rejected this.
The NEU also told members today that it had asked the DfE for an independent review into the “unintended consequences of inspection on wellbeing and workload”.
The government instead said it would ask Ofsted to provide “greater clarity on when schools should expect their next inspection” and “review the complaints process for schools regarding inspection”.
Ofsted is already reviewing the complaints process for schools.
Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, said: “It is now crystal clear that we have an education secretary and a government that is ignoring the crisis in our schools and colleges.
“By refusing to address the legitimate and reasonable request to bring to an end more than a decade of below-inflation unfunded teacher pay increases, the government is driving teaching recruitment and retention in schools in England to breaking point.”
NASUWT ‘not recommending acceptance’ of offer
Meanwhile, Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, has on Monday said that members will be asked for their views via a survey to be sent out.
In a video message to members, Dr Roach general secretary of NASUWT told members that the offer from government “deserves consideration” and that the union wanted to hear views on that offer.
However in an email to members Dr Roach later stated that the union is “not recommending acceptance of the government’s offer” as it “falls short of what the union has demanded from the government both for pay restoration and on non-pay improvements”.
The union said it believes “that it is right to hear what our members think about the offer as it stands” and has sent out a survey.
And Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that the union will circulate full details to members tomorrow and ask them for feedback.
He said: “This is a matter of great importance to leaders, teachers and parents, and we are ensuring that our response is fully considered and representative of our members in schools across the country.
“We are not commenting on the detail of the offer at this point in time.”
The NEU held two national strike days on 15 and 16 March, with a reported 50,000 teachers attending a march and rally in London.
In a joint public statement earlier this month, the unions and the government said that “in order for talks to begin and, we hope, reach a successful conclusion, the NEU has confirmed it will create a period of calm for two weeks during which time they have said no further strike dates will be announced”.
The latest talks were the first to take place between the NEU and the government in the weeks after the education secretary set the precondition that she would not meet with the union until strike action was paused.
Earlier this month, health unions agreed to consult with members over a deal that included a one-off lump sum for 2022-23 that rises in value up the NHS pay bands, plus a 5 per cent pay rise on all pay points for 2023-24.
