In its ongoing campaign for a fully funded, above inflation pay rise, the teacher members of the National Education Union in Wales have voted overwhelmingly for strike action and the ballot has successfully surpassed the threshold set by Welsh Government for strike action.
The question put was, “Are you prepared to take strike action in furtherance of this dispute?” 92.28% of teacher members voted YES, on a turnout of 58.1%.
The ballot is a result of failure by the Welsh Government to ensure enough money is available to allow employers to pay a fully funded increase in pay for teachers and support staff which at least matches inflation, and which begins to restore lost pay.
The union is declaring four days of strike action in February and March in Wales. The first will be on will be on Wednesday 1 February, affecting around 1,500 workplaces in Wales.
A ballot of support staff was also conducted alongside the teacher ballot in Wales. In Wales, the ballot result for support staff in schools saw the majority of members vote YES; 88.26% on a turnout of 51.3%.
This means that both teachers and support staff in state-funded schools in Wales who are in NEU membership are able to take strike action in pursuance of a fully funded, above inflation pay rise.
The full list of projected strike days in Wales are as follows:
Wednesday 1 February 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales.
Tuesday 14 February 2023: all eligible members in Wales.
Wednesday 15 March 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales.
Thursday 16 March 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales.
David Evans, Wales Secretary of the National Education Union Cymru, said:
“We have continually raised our concerns with the Education Minister about teacher and support staff pay, and Welsh Government funding of schools, but so far they have not taken steps to resolve the issue.
“Teachers have lost around 20% in real-terms since 2010, and support staff 27% over the same period. The 5% pay rise for teachers this year is some 7% behind inflation. In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, that is an unsustainable situation.
“Around a quarter of teachers are leaving within their first five years of qualifying. This is a waste of important talent and taxpayers’ money, yet the Welsh Government has not acted to ensure the conditions they are allowing in schools support retention.
“The Welsh Government must know there is going to have to be action on teacher pay. They must realise that school support staff need a pay rise.
“If they do not, then the consequences are clear for parents and children. Anyone who values education should support us in this dispute because that is what we are standing up for.
“It continues to be the aspiration of the NEU and its membership that this dispute can be resolved without recourse to strike action. We regret having to take strike action and are willing to enter into negotiations at any time, any place, but this situation cannot go on.
“We will be meeting with Jeremy Miles in the coming days and look forward to doing so, we will continue to press that concrete proposals on teacher and support staff pay be put forward.”
ENDS
NEU Executive news for Wales by Mairead Canavan 