North Northamptonshire teaching union reps say latest pay offer is 'just not good enough' ahead of potential further strikes

More teaching strikes could be on the cards after bosses at North Northamptonshire’s NEU teaching union said that a new pay offer would represent ‘another two years of pay cuts’ and would force schools to make further staffing savings to pay for the rise.

Teachers have been in talks with the Government over a below-inflation pay rise of 4.3 per cent plus a £1,000 one-off payment that has been put on the table.

They have already staged a series of walk-outs this year, with many schools closed or depleted.

Members are being balloted on the offer before a deadline of April 3. If the dispute is not settled, there could then be further walkouts on April 27 and May 2.

The Government claims its offer is ‘fair and reasonable’ and would result in teachers’ workloads dropping by five hours per week.

Joint Branch Secretary of North Northants NEU Simon Rielly said: “Put simply, it’s just not good enough.

“It is not fully funded. It would mean that teachers in England fall even further behind their counterparts in Wales and Scotland. It would represent another two years of real terms pay cuts.

"And it would do nothing to ease the recruitment and retention crisis plaguing education.

“Our members need to do what’s right for our profession and the children we teach, reject the pay offer, and forced the Tory Government back to the negotiating table.

“Teachers don’t want to strike, but they are worried about the future of education. Without the strike action and the support of the local communities, the government would not have made the latest pay offer.”

The NEU says that the offer is not fully funded by the Government and that around half of schools will need to dip into their own budgets to make further cuts to provision or staffing to pay for the rises.

They also say that a teacher in England with six years’ experience would be earning £1,985 less per annum than their counterpart in Wales and £8,037 less per annum than Scottish colleagues.”

Mr Rielly added: “The Government’s pay offer for 2023 amounts to just 4.3 per cent for most teachers from September, when inflation is projected to be 8.1 per cent – that’s another 3.8 per cent real-terms pay cut, leaving many teachers still struggling to make ends meet.

“For all these reasons, we will be recommending to our members in North Northants to vote to reject the offer.”

Phill Monk, district secretary of North Northants NEU, said: “This offer won’t stem the exodus of teachers from the profession or ensure pupils are taught by those qualified in the subjects they are teaching.

“We need the biggest turnout possible; we will be encouraging our members to make sure they have their say before the ballot closes at 3pm on Sunday, 2 April.”

The executive has agreed to seek local agreements with head teachers to ensure exam preparation is not interrupted for Years 11 and 13.