Unions warn of England-wide walkout before Christmas
The two largest teaching unions have threatened to organise a national strike before Christmas in an ongoing dispute over pay, pensions and working conditions.
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) and NASUWT warned that they will call for a walkout by members across England if education secretary Michael Gove refuses to meet them for talks.
A potential nationwide strike date has yet to be announced, but the unions confirmed that autumn stoppages would continue on a regional basis in the meantime.
Teachers in the East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire, Humberside and eastern regions are due to walk out on 1 October, while strike action will take place in the north-east, south-west, south-east and London on 17 October.
This rolling programme of localised strikes follows the last walkout by thousands of teachers in the north-west on 27 June.
The government has warned that the stoppages will disrupt pupils’ education and is pressing ahead with reforms that come into effect this academic year.
These include the introduction of performance related pay for teachers for the first time, which will allow headteachers in England to move away from the national pay framework.
It will be up to each school to decide how to implement new pay arrangements and appraisal policies for performance related pay.
Changes to pension arrangements across the public sector – which sparked wider industrial action last year – are also opposed by the teaching unions.
Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, accused Gove of “demoralising an entire profession.”
“At the start of the new academic year, the last thing teachers wish to be doing is preparing for further industrial action,” she said.
“With pay, pensions and working conditions being systematically attacked and an education secretary who refuses to listen or negotiate, teachers now have no other choice.”
Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, added: “The attacks on teachers are relentless. Teachers will be angered by the recklessness of the secretary of state’s continuing failure to take seriously their concerns and engage in genuine discussions to address them.”
Announcing the introduction of performance related pay yesterday, Gove said: “Linking teachers’ pay to performance will make teaching a more attractive career and a more rewarding job. It will give schools greater flexibility to respond to specific conditions and reward their best teachers.
“It is vital that teachers can be paid more without having to leave the classroom,” he continued. “This will be particularly important to schools in the most disadvantaged areas as it will empower them to attract and recruit the best teachers.”
The NUT and NASUWT represent nine out of ten teachers. Strike action will not affect Wales, where union talks are already underway with the Welsh government.