Commenting after a meeting with
education secretary about pay,
Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National
Education Union,
said:
“We met the Secretary of State for
Education today alongside other union
leaders.
“It is welcome that a meeting was held
- and we believe that union ballots were crucial in the meeting
taking place.
“There is a promise of further
discussions both on the Government’s evidence to the STRB for
next year and on changes to pay during this
year.
“There is no concrete
progress but the existence of these discussions is due to
the possibility of industrial action. We have offered to clear
our diaries for such talks, but we have no dates
yet.
“However, the Department for
Education was definitely downplaying the prospects of
movement this year - and wasn’t at all specific about next
year.
“If the Government wants to avoid
industrial action then there is only a small window of
opportunity before the NEU declares its ballot result and its
plans for action.
“No one wants to strike and the
Government can avoid it by talking and making concrete progress
on pay.
“There is a big problem in teacher and
support staff recruitment and retention in schools,
sixth forms and nurseries.
“There will have to be a correction on
pay levels to avoid growing problems in our schools. We believe
the Government knows this - the only question is how much damage
is caused to education before the Government
acts.
“We urge all NEU members to vote in
our ballot - we need to keep the pressure
up.”
