Union slams teachers’ 5% pay rise as ‘kick in the teeth’
TEACHERS in Wales will get a 5% pay rise from September bringing the starting salary for new teachers to £28,866 and those of more experienced classroom teachers to £44,450 - an increase of £2,117 - but unions say it is not enough and have threatened industrial action.
With inflation now running at 9.4% and predicted to reach 11% teaching unions said the offer amounts to a pay cut after years of pay decline. The National Education Union Cymru said it will ballot members on industrial action in response to what it described as the “very poor proposal” and the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru will ask its members if they want to ballot for action.
The £74.6m package of 5% for 202223 will be followed by a 3.5% rise in all statutory scale points on all pay scales and all allowances for 2023-24, subject to review. That rise, if it goes ahead, would bring the starting salary for teachers to £30,000 from September 2023 and cost £54.9m overall.
Education Minister Jeremy Miles confirmed today that he has accepted the recommendations on teachers’ pay from the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB) for 2022-23 and also for 2023-24 although that year would be kept under review depending on the economic climate.
The IWPRB made seven recommendations for teachers’ pay and conditions, which the Education Minister said he has accepted in principle and subject to keeping the 2023 uplifts under review.
The recommendations are: An uplift of 5% to all statutory scale points on all pay scales and all allowances for 2022/23; an uplift of 3.5% to all statutory scale points on all pay scales and all allowances for 2023/24 subject to a review if there is a significant change in economic conditions compared with the current forecasts; that the starting salary for teachers is increased to at least £30,000 from September 2023.
Teaching unions said the below inflation increase was a kick in the teeth, especially after the profession worked so hard through the pandemic. The Association of School and College Leaders described the offer as a “substantial pay cut” while the Nasuwt Cymru said ministers must return to negotiations.
“Given this very poor pay proposal, NEU Cymru will ballot our members in the autumn. We simply cannot allow these attacks on our members’ pay and their standards of living to continue,” said David Evans, Secretary of the NEU Cymru.
“Between now and then, we want Jeremy Miles to engage with us directly and negotiate. We remain willing and stand ready to do that and we will submit detailed written responses to the report and statement in the coming weeks.
“But, if there is no movement come September, we will have no hesitation in recommending that our members take action.”
Mr Evans accused the Welsh Government of hypocrisy adding that the offer would do nothing to address the teacher recruitment crisis. This is the fourth year teachers’ pay has been devolved and a pay rise of between 5%-8.9% for teachers in their first year has been promised in England for 2022-23 by the UK government.
“The Welsh Government has clearly waited until Westminster announced its proposals for teachers pay before finalising their thoughts,” said Mr Evans, “But Jeremy Miles has had the IWPRB recommendations since May and should have released this information much earlier so that we could enter into meaningful consultation and negotiation.
“Far from being a proposal for Welsh teachers, we have seen a reaction to what is happening in England with our members in Wales being offered an award that will still mean yet another huge cut to the real value of teacher pay against inflation. With RPI inflation at 11.7% according to the latest figures, a proposal of 5% for teachers at all pay scales would, in effect, see a pay cut in real terms slap bang in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
“Just yesterday a Welsh Government spokesperson complained that Westminster is failing to provide the funding necessary for fair pay rises for public sector staff including teachers.
“There are two key points here. Firstly, there is an acknowledgement from Welsh Government that the public sector offers do not represent a fair pay rise. Secondly, devolution of power to Cardiff Bay occurred 23 years ago. Throughout that period a succession of different reports has told us consistently that the devolved budget has been inadequate. This is nothing new and little action has been taken to rectify that position.”
The Nasuwt Cymru was similarly scathing. It has already warned its members may strike over plans to reform the school day and year although they have not suggested action on pay, there is clear anger.
Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT said: “The Welsh Government has waited until schools close for the summer to deliver another real-terms pay cut for teachers. Against a backdrop of soaring inflation and a real-terms pay loss of more than 20% over the last 12 years, teachers across Wales are set to be worse off as a result of the proposals the Minister has announced today.
“It is scandalous that many experienced teachers and school leaders are already leaving the profession and today’s announcement will do little to stop that. Although the Welsh Government promised devolution of pay and conditions would mean a better deal for teachers, the reality is that teachers are being asked to make do with less.”
It is the third year teacher pay has been devolved and Dr Roach said the timing of today’s announcement, during the start of the school holidays, would be questioned by the profession.
“If the Welsh Government believes that delaying this announcement until the start of the summer break will dissipate the anger of teachers, they are mistaken.
“We will not stand by whilst teachers who have delivered so much for so many for so long are treated so badly - our members’ patience has been tested to the limit.”
Sion Amlyn, NASUWT Wales Policy and Casework Official said ministers must commit to genuine dialogue with the Nasuwt and hold meaningful negotiations “in order to deliver a much improved pay offer that will deliver a better deal for all teachers”.
“Teachers have given their all through a pandemic, they are grappling with a cost of living crisis and their pay is nowhere near adequate in the face of the sharpest fall in living standards for decades,” he said .
“The profession deserves so much more and without proper pay restoration pupils’ education will continue to be affected by the continuing exodus of experienced teachers and headteachers.”
Eithne Hughes, Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Cymru, said the award fell “woefully short” of what is needed to shore up teacher recruitment and retention in Wales which she described as being in “absolute crisis”.
“This is well below the rate of inflation, which is currently 11.8% on the RPI index, and therefore constitutes a substantial real-terms pay cut. The real value of teacher and leader salaries has been significantly eroded over the past decade and they deserve better than yet another kick in the teeth. We will be consulting our members over whether they wish to take industrial action.”
ASCL also warned that schools must have enough money to afford any pay rise. Some local authorities have warned of cuts because last year’s teachers’ pay award was not fully funded by the Welsh Government.
Accepting the independent panel’s recommendations for the pay award Mr Miles said: “I am committed to finding ways we can continue to reward and recognise our teachers here in Wales through this difficult economic period and it is through our social partnership approach combined with the independent expertise of the IWPRB that I am able to make this announcement today.
“Following careful consideration of this expert, independent advice provided by the IWPRB, I accept the recommendation that all statutory pay scales and all allowances are uplifted by 5% from September 2022. This uplift in pay will result in a starting salary for new teachers of £28,866 and the salaries of more experienced classroom teachers will rise to £44,450 - an increase of £2,117.
“The IWPRB recommendation that, given the current economic uncertainties and pressures, future awards from September 2023 need to be kept under review is a sensible precaution. I propose that these should therefore be used as a planning assumption, subject to such a review.”
He will ask for responses from key stakeholders within the next eight weeks.
The Nasuwt Cymru said the majority of classroom teachers in Wales have seen a 19% cut to the real-terms value of their pay compared to 2010. The values of teachers’ pay on the Main Pay Range (MPR) are between £2,102 (7.6%) and £5,277 (13.9%) lower in 2021/22 than if teachers’ salaries had increased to keep pace with RPI inflation since 2010, the union said.
The salaries of Upper Pay Scale (UPS) teachers are between £7,487 (19%) and £8,052 (19%) lower in 2021/22 than if teachers’ salaries had increased to keep pace with RPI inflation since 2010. Leadership Pay Range (LPR) headteachers’ salaries are between £9,522 (19.6%) and £24,818 (20.8%) lower by the same measure.
“To put this in context, the majority of classroom teachers in Wales will be more than £9,200 worse-off this year under the IWPRB’s recommendations, compared to if their pay had kept pace with RPI inflation since 2010.
“The majority of teachers in Wales will have lost out in real-terms on over £63,000 in total pay, since the Westminster Government started to freeze teachers’ pay in 2010.”
Given this very poor pay proposal, NEU Cymru will ballot our members in the autumn. We simply cannot allow these attacks on our members’ pay and their standards of living to continue
David Evans, Secretary of the NEU Cymru