The NEU consultative ballot on the Government's pay offer has
been rejected by an overwhelming 98% of NEU teacher members in
England on a turnout of 66%.
191,319 serving teachers in state schools in England have voted
to reject 's offer in less than six
days.
It is not surprising that the offer has been rejected. The offer
was not fully funded, would have meant teachers in England would
see their pay fall even further behind their counterparts in
Wales and Scotland and it would represent another two years of
real-terms pay cuts.
It would do nothing to reverse the problems of recruitment and
retention in our schools.
Commenting on the result, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National
Education, said:
"This resounding rejection of the Government's offer should leave
in no doubt that she will
need to come back to the negotiating table with a much better
proposal.
"The offer shows an astounding lack of judgement and
understanding of the desperate situation in the education system.
“We have today written to the education secretary informing her
of the next two days of strike action on 27 April and 2 May that
NEU teacher members in England will now be taking.
"These strikes are more than three weeks away; can avoid them.
"No teacher wants to be on strike. Nor can they accept this offer
that does nothing to address the decades of below inflation pay
increases making them the worst paid teachers in the UK. The
offer will do nothing to stem the teacher recruitment and
retention crisis which is so damaging to our children and young
people's education.
“The education secretary has united the profession in its outrage
at this insulting pay offer. It is now for her to rectify that
situation by starting to value education. The NEU is ready as we
have stated all along to negotiate with ministers, but this time
we hope a lesson has been learnt. needs to start negotiations
with respect for the profession she is supposedly representing in
Government.
"To parents we say that we have no wish to disrupt education,
indeed our action is aimed at getting the Government to invest in
the education of this generation of children and the people who
teach them.
"We are asking our school reps to plan with head teachers to
ensure that year 11 and year 13 students have a full programme of
education on the upcoming strike days."
Editor’s Note
Total Eligible 295,560
Total Voted 195,564
Turnout = 66.17%
REJECT: 191,319 (97.83%)
ACCEPT: 4,245 (2.17%)
