A teaching union leader has warned that “we are going to have to move mountains” to avoid a strike over pay after six hours of talks with government officials.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, and Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, also spoke of “gloomy prospects” for next year’s teacher pay award.
Education union bosses and Department for Education officials met today to discuss teacher pay for the second time after the NEU announced that teachers would go on strike from 1 February.
Asked after the meeting whether talks could yet lead to the strike being averted, Dr Bousted said: “Well, for that to happen, we’re going to have to move mountains between now and 1 February.”
Headteachers’ leaders have said ministers will need to take positive action to resolve the pay dispute.
Speaking after the talks, Mr Barton said the DfE had been “pessimistic about the prospect of there being any additional money available over and above the extra funding for schools in the Autumn Statement”.
“Its assessment is that much of that money will, in fact, be taken up by the high cost of energy bills, leaving very little left over for any significant improvement to pay,” he said.
He added this would mean “no improvement to this year’s pay award” and make the “prospects appear gloomy for next year’s pay award, too”.
Teacher pay and recruitment in a ‘death spiral’
Mr Barton said: “The only solution, therefore, is a political intervention to make more money available.
“The government has to recognise that we are currently caught in a death spiral of a long-term decline in the real value of pay and a consequent teacher recruitment and retention crisis that is putting educational provision and standards at risk. Time is pressing. The first day of NEU strike action takes place on 1 February.
“Politicians must urgently take positive action to resolve the dispute and do the right thing for schools, staff and children.”
Dr Bousted said there were no other dates for talks in the diary at the moment.
Unions met with education secretary Gillian Keegan on Monday but said “no progress” had been made.
Dr Bousted also highlighted how today’s talks have led to renewed concerns about the level of pay that teachers will receive next year.
She said: “The department is constrained by what the Treasury will provide and, at the moment, the Treasury is not providing anything else for this year. And we’re also concerned about next year - the concern is that, because of the uncertainty of energy costs, teachers will pay not only higher energy bills but [receive] lower pay, too.”
The concern, also reflected by Mr Barton, is that higher energy costs for the sector will eat into the budget available for pay.
