The government’s pay offer to end a series of disruptive strikes has been unanimously rejected by the British teachers in the United Kingdom, according to their trade union.
The National Education Union, Britain’s largest education union, announced two further days of walkouts after 98% of teachers who voted in the ballot followed its advice to reject the offer.
The government’s proposal included a one-off payment of £1,000 this year and an average pay rise of 4.5% in the next financial year. NEU joint General Secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said in a statement that this resounding rejection should leave education minister Gillian Keegan in no doubt that she will need to come back to the negotiating table with a much better proposal.
Thousands of teachers across Britain have taken to strikes in 2023 demanding an above-inflation pay award, leaving classrooms empty and piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to help resolve the pay dispute.
The union said teachers would stage two further days of walkout, on April 27 and May 2.
The British Education Minister reacting to the latest plans of walkout by teachers said, “It is extremely disappointing that the NEU have called for more strike action.”
In a statement, Keegan hinted that the government had no plans to negotiate further, stating that the independent pay review body would now decide on pay and recommend pay rises for next year.
Higher pay rises and Inflation
The British government has argued that higher pay rises would only worsen inflation.
Teachers in Wales have ended their strike action after voting to accept a pay offer comprising an additional 3% pay award for 2022-23 alongside a 1.5% one-off payment, and a government-funded 5% rise for the following year.
Scotland’s largest teaching union has also accepted a pay deal to end long-running strikes, which it said would amount to a 14.6% increase in pay for most teachers by January 2024.
