Head Teachers In England To Vote On Strikes Action

Head teachers in England are preparing to hold another vote on whether to strike over pay, funding, workload and wellbeing.

The National Association of Head Teachers union (NAHT), mainly representing primary heads, had already voted overwhelmingly to reject the government’s pay offer for teachers.

The union held a strike vote in January which supported taking action but did not reach the required 50% turnout.

The Department for Education says its pay offer was fair and reasonable.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) are already on strike and it could continue into the next academic year.

Most state school teachers in England had a 5% pay rise in 2022, but the unions are asking for further increases and more funding to ensure pay rises do not come from schools existing budgets.

Talks between the government, NAHT and other education unions, which took place in March, resulted in a pay offer comprising a 4.3% rise next year, as well as a £1,000 one-off payment this year.

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However, the pay offer was rejected by each of the unions and no further negotiations have been planned with the Department for Education saying the pay would now be decided by the independent pay review body, which would recommend pay rises for next year.

The NEU has since confirmed further strike days, including a walkout which took place on 27th April, planning a strike action on May 2nd, which will be the fifth national strike date this year.

The NASUWT said it would also re-ballot its members on strike action after failing to reach the turnout in its own ballot earlier in the year.

The other school leaders union, ASCL, said it would ballot members on strike action for the first time in its history.