Teaching union to ballot members over pay offer

The largest education union in England is voting on whether to accept or reject the government's pay offer of 2.8%.

If it is turned down, the union will debate at its conference in April whether to vote for industrial action, which could include strikes.

The National Education Union (NEU) called the government's pay recommendation "extremely disappointing".

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson called it "an extraordinary decision" by the union.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said the current proposal of 2.8% "is not sufficient to even start to address the crisis in recruitment and retention".

He added: "The suggestion that an unfunded pay award can be paid for by making 'efficiencies' is an insult to a profession who have already endured 14 years of austerity.

"No teacher or leader will be able to identify efficiencies without cutting staff or resources or both."

The ballot will open on 1 March and run until mid-April.

Responding to the announcement, a No 10 spokesman said that "future pay awards must be fair to both taxpayers and workers", and that 2.8% is above the Office for Budget Responsibility's inflation forecast for the year.

"As schools and families continue doing everything they can to improve attendance, and after the millions of school days lost through both the pandemic and recent industrial action, union leaderships need to think long and hard about whose interests they are putting first", the DfE added.

Members of the NEU went on strike for eight days in 2023, which resulted in serious disruption for students and some school closures.

The dispute ended when teaching unions accepted a 6.5% pay rise.

Teachers received a 5.5% pay rise last September in England, funded by an additional £1.2bn from the government.

However, the NEU is unhappy with next year's recommendation.

The School Teachers' Review Body, an independent group for teacher's pay, will recommend a formal pay offer later this year.

The BBC understands that head teacher unions are likely to wait for this before making any decisions.

In a separate dispute, tens of thousands of students in sixth form colleges across England were disrupted by strike action on Thursday.

About 2,000 NEU members are taking part in a three day walkout over pay.

The September pay rise did not include teachers at sixth form colleges, which, says the DfE, are responsible for setting their own pay.

Additional reporting by Hayley Clarke.