Pay rise could land Cambridgeshire teachers 'in difficult position', warns union
It warns of redundancies if the government doesn't fully back the plans
Last updated 23rd May 2023
An education union fears Cambridgeshire teachers could be at risk of redundancy if the government does not fully fund a new pay rise.
The warning comes after reports that the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB), an independent pay award body, has recommended a 6.5 per cent pay rise for teachers in England.
Jon Duveen, the National Education Union's (NEU) Cambridgeshire secretary, is sceptical about the proposal.
“We don’t know whether the 6.5 per cent is accurate,” he said.
“If it is, how is it spread out amongst the teaching force and secondly, is it going to be fully funded by the government?
“That is the key question for us because if the government doesn’t fund this pay award, all that’s going to happen is that schools will be put in a very difficult position.”
"We are facing a real problem"
NEU members in some of Cambridgeshire’s schools took strike action earlier this month and at the end of April in a dispute over pay.
At the time, the government offered a £1,000 one-off payment with starting salaries rising to £30,000 from the start of the next academic year in September as part of a 4.3 per cent pay rise.
All four teaching unions linked to the pay issues rejected this offer.
However, the latest suggestions of a rise of two further percentage points has left Mr Duveen feeling fearful if the government does not provide full backing.
“If they have to then find another 6.5 per cent for the teaching force, a lot of schools won’t be able to balance their books this year,” he said.
“That could mean redundancies amongst support staff, even possibly amongst teaching staff, so we are facing a real problem and the government will have to decide what they’re going to do about the funding.”
"This isn't going to satisfy many teachers"
A spokesman for the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed the STRB had submitted its recommendations for teacher pay for academic year 2023-24, and said the DfE will “publish our response in the usual way”.
The NEU have planned further strike action to take place for the week commencing 3rd July following a meeting of the NEU executive.
Mr Duveen feels that many teachers in Cambridgeshire will still not be satisfied even if a 6.5 per cent pay rise is agreed.
“If inflation is running at 12 per cent and we’re getting 6.5 per cent, that’s essentially a cut in what teachers can afford to spend and that isn’t going to satisfy many teachers,” he added.
“If the government starts negotiations with the teaching unions before the NEU executive meets in June, we would not be calling strikes later in this term.”