North Yorkshire teachers 'struggling' as NEU ballot for strike action closes

A lack of pay is the reason behind the potential walkouts

Author: Karen LiuPublished 13th Jan 2023

We are hearing teachers in North Yorkshire are struggling as they are living "month by month" on their salaries.

It is as the National Education Union's ballot for strike action closes today with the potential walkouts due to the lack of pay.

Vicki Logan is the headteacher of Overdale Community Primary School in Eastfield, Scarborough and she said: "They continue after the pandemic to do a fantastic job of teaching and safeguarding our children. On top of that, we're dealing with a lot of social and emotional mental health issues with children that are still going on past the pandemic, still going on for their families and for themselves.

"We would expect the Government to recognise the great job that we did during Covid, recognise that schools need funding properly so that we can award this pay and that we actually deserve this pay, because for over a decade now we've not had pay in line with inflation.

"It does make you feel undervalued and it makes you feel as if the Government don't recognise the level of skill we have, the hard work that we do and particularly the number of hours that we put into our roles within a week. It's at least 50 percent more than your full time 40 hours.

"For some of our young teachers, they're living in rented accommodation or still at home. They can't think that they'll have their own home, they can't make that step and when you're in a professional role you should be able to do that. If all your money is going to living month-to-month then you can't think about the additional things that keeps your wellbeing at the level it should be.

"You can't think that when it's the holidays you're going to take a holiday or you're going to do something that's going to cost a bit of money, you're thinking 'no, I'll have a bit of a rest and then go back to my job.' But when you work hard, I think you should be able to play hard as well. You should be able to do things in the holidays and that's difficult.

"They prioritise their families so they'll make sure that everything for their children is in provision and just neglect themselves and that again is a worry, because you need to be at your best when you're teaching. It's a very intense and stressful job. You need to be well fed, well rested and you need to have some time out that's enjoyable."

The Government will continue talks with teachers' unions to avert "damaging" industrial action, Downing Street has said.

It came after nine out of 10 members of NASUWT in England and Wales voted for strikes yesterday, but the union failed to secure enough support to go ahead.

A No 10 spokesperson said: "The Education Secretary held a meeting earlier this week, a constructive meeting with union leaders, and I believe that she held a similar meeting today.

"She agreed the importance of working together to avoid strike action that would be damaging to children. We know the disruption that children have already faced in terms of their education due to the pandemic, so we obviously don't want to see any further disruption.

"We continue to want to try and help and facilitate teachers and the unions receive a fair and affordable pay deal.

"But as I say that the most important thing is that we continue to talk."

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