Teaching union to launch indicative ballot of members over pay
Share:
The largest education union in the country will ask its members to vote on the Government’s recommendation of a 2.8% pay rise for teachers. The National Education Union (NEU) will launch an indicative ballot of its members from March 1 until April 11 over the pay offer for teachers in England.
Members will be asked whether they would be willing to take industrial action if the Government does not commit to a significant and fully funded pay rise. Delegates at the NEU’s annual conference in mid-April could then decide to proceed to a formal ballot in the summer term if members back action.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said the current proposal of 2.8% for 2025/26 is “not sufficient” to address teacher shortages. It comes after the Department for Education (DfE) said a 2.8% rise would “maintain the competitiveness of teachers’ pay despite the challenging financial backdrop the Government is facing”.
In written evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) in December, the DfE said: “The Department’s view is that a 2.8% teacher pay award would be appropriate for 2025/26.”. The STRB has not yet made its formal recommendations for teacher pay in England for the next academic year.
At a meeting of the national executive of the NEU this week, the union agreed to proceed with a preliminary online ballot of teacher members in England. Downing Street urged teachers not to “put children’s learning at risk” by going on strike. Mr Kebede said: “The current proposal of 2.8% is not sufficient to even start to address the crisis in recruitment and retention.
