Proposed pay rise for public sector workers welcomed on Teesside
The Chancellor made an announcement yesterday
A proposed pay rise for public sector workers has been welcomed on Teesside.
Yesterday the Chancellor accepted a recommendation to boost salaries.
It means staff like police, teachers, nurses and more could see a wage increase soon.
Lorraine Nash is from Redcar and Cleveland's branch of the National Education Union and said: "I would say morale in schools has been quite low for quite some time, particularly after how teachers were treated during and after the pandemic. A pay rise won't erradicate poor morale because there are a lot of other things tide up in morale of teachers.
"I'm sure that a pay rise would go some way to lifting and boosting morale of current teachers. It would help them to make them a little bit valued than they have been, but I would that they need to be listened to more and the way to go about that is to speak with the unions.
"Wages have been suppressed and above average pay rise is essential to address the balance. Our bills have gone up and most of us are watching the pennies as well as any other person and it has to be cut back to where it was, otherwise teachers just do feel undervalued.
"A reasonable pay offer is necessary to retain the teaching staff that we have. It would be good for the economy. I think it's particularly good for women as 83 percent of our workforce is women, so I think it's necessary and it's good all around. It'll feed into a lot of other aspects of life and make things better."
Commenting on the Chancellor’s announcement of a 5.5% pay deal for teachers, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“We thank the Secretary of State for showing the positive leadership needed on teacher pay and the recruitment and retention crisis that was missing under the previous 10 Conservative Education Secretaries.
“A 5.5% pay award is a necessary first step in the reversal of the real terms pay cuts inflicted upon teachers and school leaders during the Conservatives’ time in office. Clearly, there is still some way to go to restore what teachers and school leaders have lost since 2010 and we will expect this to be addressed in future pay rounds. This announcement is however a strong signal to the profession about a new course of direction in education. The £1.2 billion investment to fund this pay award will be welcome news to school leaders who are juggling overstretched budgets resulting from years of funding cuts.
“We welcome the fact the Government want to talk to the profession about a range of issues. An important issue they need to consider is how teacher pay is determined. The so-called independent pay review body is a failed process that has resulted in pay cuts over the last 14 years, contributing to a deepening recruitment and retention crisis. It was only the efforts of NEU members – who took 8 days of strike action in 2023, and who again voted in an indicative ballot this year – that changed the pay review body's thinking on teacher pay.
“NEU members will appreciate the Government’s acknowledgment that workload is another key issue hindering the recruitment and retention of teachers. Removal of performance related pay will make a material difference to the workload of teachers. Allowing teachers to take the time needed to plan, prepare and assess at home will inject some flexibility into teachers’ working lives, as in other professions. This flexibility is badly needed.
“The NEU Executive will meet next week to formally consider the offer and will make a recommendation that members will vote upon in September.”