Several teachers at King Alfred School in Highbridge were back on picket lines on Wednesday (July 5th) as they staged another strike in a long-running dispute over conditions and pay.
There have already been five national and three regional strike days since February by members of the NEU, which is the UK’s largest education union.
Union leaders have warned that schools could face co-ordinated strike action by education unions in the autumn term if a deal over pay cannot be reached.
NEU general secretary-elect Daniel Kebede said teachers are taking up second jobs amid the cost-of-living crisis: “I’m certain (if other) education unions would like strike ballots in the autumn term there will be co-ordinated action.”
The Government offered teachers a £1,000 one-off payment for the current school year (2022/23) and an average 4.5% rise for staff next year after intensive talks with the education unions in March this year.
The NEU – alongside the NASUWT teaching union, the NAHT school leaders’ union and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) – are balloting their members in England to take action in the new school year.
But all four education unions involved in the dispute rejected the offer and the decision on teachers’ pay in England for next year has been passed to the independent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).
Dan Milford, TKASA Principal, has written to parents and carers to tell them about the impact the latest strikes will have. He added: “The strike is happening because of a national dispute between the unions and the government over teachers’ pay and conditions and not because of any issues at our school.”
