CLASS ACTION
Fourth teachers’ union rejects pay offer as more strikes loom
STATE schools across England face closures during the summer term as the deadlock continues in the bitter teachers’ pay row.
Four major education unions have now rejected the Government’s offer, paving the way for crippling strike action unless ministers renegotiate.
Some 87% of NASUWT members snubbed the £1,000 one-off payment for this school year and average 4.5% wage rise for the next.
The 280,000 teachers will now be balloted on strike action, with 77% of them saying they were in favour of it.
NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach yesterday urged ministers to strike a better deal “or deal with the consequences”.
He said members had delivered their end-of-term report on Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, telling her: “Try harder, because your offer is simply not good enough.”
He added: “Her haste to strike a deal in just six days has unravelled. It resulted in a contemptuous offer that received the response it deserved. Today, the NASUWT is putting the Secretary of State for Education on notice of our intention to ballot members for industrial action.”
Last week, the National Education Union also rejected the offer, with its members set to stage walkouts on April 27 and May 2.
Both the National Association of Head Teachers and the Association of School and College Leaders have balked at the deal too.
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “Following a week negotiating in good faith, the Government offered teachers a £1,000 payment on top of this year’s pay rise, a commitment to cut their workload by five hours per week, and a headline pay increase of 4.5% for next year – above both inflation and average earnings growth.
“The offer was funded, including major new investment of over half a billion pounds.
“[The unions’] decisions to reject this offer will simply result in more disruption for children and less money for teachers today”.