Teachers in England and Wales vote for strike action
The NEU has declared seven days of walkouts in February and March
Last updated 16th Jan 2023
Teachers in England and Wales have voted to go on strike over pay.
Nine out of 10 teacher members of the National Education Union (NEU) voted for strike action.
The union has declared seven days of walkouts in February and March, but it has said any individual school will only be affected by four of the days.
The first day of strikes will be on February 1 and more than 23,000 schools in England and Wales are expected to be affected, the NEU has said.
In England, 90% of NEU teacher members who voted in the ballot backed strikes, with a turnout of 53%, meaning the union passed the 50% ballot turnout required by law.
In Wales, 92% of NEU teacher members who voted in the ballot backed strikes, with a turnout of 58%.
Overall, 300,000 teachers and support staff in England and Wales were asked to vote in the NEU ballot.
Support staff in schools in Wales are also set to go on strike in the dispute over pay after 88% of balloted members backed action, with a turnout of 51%.
However, the NEU’s ballot of support staff in schools and sixth-form colleges in England did not achieve the 50% ballot turnout required by law for action so they won't be going on strike.
Headteachers won't be going on strike
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) also announced its ballot result for strikes today.
While nearly two-thirds of those who voted did back strike action, the vote did not hit the 50% minimum legally required.
Only 42% of the NAHT membership voted, although the Union has said it may re-run the ballot due to potential disruption from postal strikes.
"A scandalous waste of talent and taxpayers’ money"
The Department for Education (DfE) has offered a 5% pay rise to most teachers for the current school year, but the NEU is demanding a fully-funded above inflation pay rise for teachers.
Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint NEU general secretaries, said: “We have continually raised our concerns with successive education secretaries about teacher and support staff pay, and its funding in schools and colleges, but instead of seeking to resolve the issue they have sat on their hands.
“It is disappointing that the Government prefers to talk about yet more draconian anti-strike legislation, rather than work with us to address the causes of strike action.”
The union leaders added that historic real-terms pay cuts for teachers had created an “unsustainable situation” in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, adding that staff were leaving the profession “in droves”.
“This is a scandalous waste of talent and taxpayers’ money yet the Government seems unbothered about the conditions they are allowing schools and colleges to slide into,” they said.
Teachers urged not to strike to avoid ‘damage’ to children’s education
Ahead of the strike ballot results, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We would continue to call on teachers not to strike given we know what substantial damage was caused to children’s education during the pandemic and it’s certainly not something we want to see repeated.
“We would hope they would continue to discuss with us their concerns rather than withdraw education from children.”
Last week, a ballot of members of the NASUWT teachers’ union failed to reach the 50% turnout threshold, although nine in 10 of those who did vote backed strikes.
Scotland's teachers on strike now
Many teachers in Scotland are already on strike, with both the EIS – the largest teaching union in Scotland – and the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS) beginning a rolling 16-day programme of strike action today.
Teachers will strike in two local authority areas each day, with schools in Glasgow and East Lothian, which are shut to all pupils apart from those taking prelim exams, the first to be affected.
More nurses strikes in England
On top of other strikes we've seen recently, members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) across England will walk out on Wednesday and Thursday and the union has warned that if progress is not made in negotiations by the end of January the next set of strikes will include all eligible members in England for the first time.
The Government continues to insist that pay claims are unaffordable and is sticking to its belief that wage rises should be decided by pay review bodies.