Teacher union ramps up pressure for 5% pay rise with possible strikes on the horizon

'We have already a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention – and if we don’t act soon it will be a catastrophe'

Britain's largest teaching union is ramping up the pressure on the Government to grant school staff a 5 per cent pay rise in the wake of the NHS pay deal announcement.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary, of the National Education Union (NEU), said there was “optimism” that there appeared to be movement on the public sector pay cap.

But he said the NHS pay deal – a 6.5 per cent increase for nurses, paramedics and porters over three years – would not be enough to solve the recruitment and retention crisis for teachers.

The NEU - which wants an immediate Government-funded 5 per cent pay rise for teachers – will look at taking strike action over pay at their annual conference next week.

“Crucially, teachers are looking at their working hours and they are making a calculation about the hourly rate they actually get," Mr Courtney said. “When young teachers are reporting that they work 60-hour weeks and they calculate their hourly rate, they are thinking their pay is nowhere near enough."

He added: “We have already a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention – and if we don’t act soon it will be a catastrophe.”

The NEU recently met with the School Teachers Review Body (STRB), which advises the Government over pay. The body will recommend a pay settlement for school staff later this year.

“I think the STRB would really want to say they should give us 5 per cent but they are worried whether the Government would fund it or not,” Mr Courtney said.

The advisory body warned last year that capping pay rises at 1 per cent presented a “substantial risk” to the education system, making it harder to recruit and retain high quality graduates.

Speaking ahead of the union's conference over Easter, Mr Courtney said that there was “optimism” from the NHS pay announcement – but he added that entry-level teaching salaries were still not competitive with other graduate salaries.

And he said that he did not think an NHS-style deal would be enough.

“They need to act on workload and they need to act on pay, and in some areas in addition to that they have to act on housing as well if they are going to avert the coming problems,” he said. “6.5 per cent across three years? That’s a long way short of us saying we want 5 per cent, fully funded, this year.

At the union’s conference, members will consider a motion calling on the Government to fully fund a 5 per cent pay rise.

It says the union should “be prepared to ballot members on strike action” in pursuit of their pay demand if internal polling suggested there would be support for industrial action.

Union members at the conference will also consider a boycott of all primary school tests from next year – and the Government’s controversial baseline test for four-year-olds from 2020.

“Is there a moral case for boycotting the Sats and baseline? There is a moral case for doing that,” Mr Courtney said. “I think there will be strong support in the conference for calls for a boycott.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We have a record 15,500 more teachers in our classrooms than in 2010 and this generation of teachers is better qualified than ever before.

"The average teacher's salary stands at £37,400 outside of London, rising to £41,900 in the capital.

"It is thanks to these teachers hard work and our reforms that 1.9 million more children are being taught in good or outstanding schools since 2010.

"We have already given schools freedom over staff pay and have asked the independent School Teachers’ Review Body to take account of the Government’s flexible approach to public sector pay as they develop their recommendation.

“We want to continue to attract and keep the best and brightest people in our schools. That’s why the Education Secretary recently announced a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers, working with the unions and professional bodies, and pledged to strip away workload that doesn’t add value in the classroom."