By Gavin Mackintosh-
Teacher strikes End in England, after all four unions in a dispute with the government accepted a 6.5% pay rise.
Members of the NEU, the UK’s largest teaching union, voted overwhelmingly to accept the pay offer.
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The NASUWT and NAHT unions also accepted the deal on Monday in developments described as good news for teachers parents and pupils by the education secretary.
The vote draws the curtains on a long-running pay dispute, as part of which teachers walked out across the country in eight days of strike action, forcing many state schools to either fully or partially close.
The government decided this month to implement a recommendation by the independent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) for a 6.5% pay increase for teachers in England from September.
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The NEU said 14% of members (25,541) who took part in an electronic ballot voted to reject the government’s offer and said they were willing to undertake more extensive strike action, while 86% (154,987) voted to “accept the offer as progress made by our action” and agreed to end the strikes.
The joint NEU general secretaries, Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, said: “As a democratic union, the NEU leadership promised members that any pay and funding offer given by government that warranted their consideration would be put to them. Members have spoken very clearly and in great numbers.
“The NEU submissions to the STRB went a long way towards changing the government’s position on pay and funding. The strike action taken by our members also shifted the dial, securing the highest pay award for more than 30 years. Members should be proud they have also secured extra funding for schools.”
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said the deal meant the average teacher’s salary would increase by £2,500.
“It’s not all that we wanted, and we will continue to campaign for better school funding and for a restoration of teacher pay – but for a one-year pay award, it is a significant achievement,” she told the BBC.
Both sides in the dispute said the pay offer was “properly funded” and would not come from existing school budgets.
NEU teachers in England have been on strike on eight days since February – seven national and one regional – forcing many schools to close.
All four unions have been balloting members since May about holding strikes in the autumn term, and said they would co-ordinate that strike action for maximum impact.
The NAHT, NASUWT and NEU announced on Monday that their members had voted in favour of those strikes – but that no further action would take place following separate votes to accept the pay offer.
Most state school teachers in England had a 5% pay rise for the year 2022-23.
The unions had been calling for above-inflation pay rises for teachers, funded by extra money from government to protect school budgets.
The 6.5% rise for 2023-24 was recommended by the School Teachers’ Review Body after an earlier government offer was rejected.
Ministers announced the latest offer on 13 July and, in a joint statement with union leaders, agreed to “wider reforms” to reduce staff workload.
Ms Keegan said the end of the dispute would allow more time to “focus on what matters most – giving our children a world-class education”.
“None of that is possible without the hard work of teachers,” she added.
The NEU’s support staff members in England also accepted the pay deal. They did not reach the required turnout for strike action earlier in the year.
Some parents had to take the day off when schools closed on strike days, with others juggling childcare with working from home.
Strikes have also been taking place in schools across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In Scotland, the EIS, SSTA and NASUWT teaching unions had been in a year-long industrial dispute with councils before accepting a 7% pay rise in March, boosting most teachers’ salaries by £5,200.
Most schools in Northern Ireland closed during the most recent strike involving the NAHT, the NASUWT, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, the Ulster Teachers’ Union and the NEU.
There has been no pay deal in Northern Ireland since 2021, with unions now asking for a pay increase of 6% for 2021-22, and a rise of inflation plus 2% for 2022-23.
In Wales, teachers from the NEU agreed an increased pay offer of 8% for 2022-23 and a 5% increase in annual pay for 2023-24.
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