The NEU teaching union has rejected the pay offer made by the Welsh government last week saying it has been “emphatically informed” by members that the offer “is simply not good enough”.
The union had suspended strike action due to take place yesterday while it sought feedback on the offer - which consisted of a 6.5 per cent rise this year and a one-off payment of 1.5 per cent
However, NEU joint general secretary, Kevin Courtney, said the response from members was that the offer “is simply not good enough and fails to address either the cost-of-living crisis, spiralling inflation or the damage done to pay since 2010”.
He said that strike action, which had been due to take place on 14 February, was now rescheduled for 2 March and added: “We have thanked the minister for being prepared to negotiate with us, in stark contrast to the Westminster government.”
NEU Wales secretary, David Evans, added: “NEU Cymru is committed to seeking a resolution to this dispute on behalf of teacher and support staff members employed across Wales.
“Our demands have been clear, and we will meet with the minister and his officials as often as necessary in order to seek to secure a deal that will resolve all issues.
“While we acknowledge that the Welsh government have made offers that include seeking to address workload and reopening negotiations for 2023-24, those offers still fall short of our member’s expectations and needs.”
Making the offer last week, the education and Welsh language minister, Jeremy Miles, said the offer was “the maximum we can afford” and that, if it was rejected, the government would “be unable to make any higher pay offer”.
Today, responding to the NEU decision to reject the offer, a Welsh government spokesperson said: ”Everyone recognises the excellent work of our workforce, but they also recognise the challenging financial constraints we are operating in. We believe an offer that is the equivalent of an 8 per cent pay rise, with 6.5 per cent consolidated, is a strong one in the context of a reducing Welsh government budget.
“For teachers to be able to benefit from an additional backdated pay rise for 2022-23 an agreement will be needed by mid-March. We are keen to continue to have discussions with partners in order to make rapid progress.”
Teachers in Scotland, meanwhile, received a new pay offer last night. It consisted of a 6 per cent rise this year and a 5.5 per cent rise next year but was rejected outright by Scotland’s largest teaching union at meeting of its salaries committee this morning.
