UK’s biggest teaching union votes to end strike action

The National Education Union (NEU) said members agreed to accept progress made on pay and funding and halt industrial action

Members of the National Education Union have accepted a 6.5 per cent pay rise for teachers in England, ending the prospect of strikes in the autumn (PA Wire)

Members of the UK’s biggest teaching union have accepted a 6.5 per cent pay rise and voted to end strikes.

The National Education Union (NEU) said members agreed to accept progress made on pay and funding and halt industrial action.

“Members have spoken very clearly and in great numbers.” NEU leaders Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said in a joint statement.

They added: “Members should be proud they have also secured extra funding for schools.”

The NEU said its strike action had “shifted the dial” in securing concessions from the government over pay and funding for schools.

And, in a warning to ministers, Ms Bousted and Mr Courtney said: “The Government should be in no doubt that we will hold its feet to the fire on delivering for teachers and support staff on workload and funding.”

Education secretary Gillian Keegan said the NEU’s decision to accept the pay offer is “good news for teachers, good news for parents, and most of all, good news for children”.

“The deal brings an end to the disruption faced by parents and young people and means we can focus on what matters most – giving our children a world class education,” she said.

Ms Keegan said teachers can now tackle high levels of absence, the gap between richer and poorer students and time lost in education during the pandemic.

Teacher members of the NEU had staged eight days of strike action in England’s state schools since February in a pay dispute.

Four education unions were considering further walkouts in the autumn term, but their general secretaries recommended members accept the 6.5 per cent pay rise for teachers in England offered earlier this month.

In a vote before the pay offer was made, 95 per cent of NEU teachers supported renewed strike action for a further six months, with a turnout of 53 per cent.

But the NEU said a vote on the government’s 6.5 per cent pay offer for 2023-24 means further strike action over pay will now not go ahead in the autumn term.

An electronic ballot of the NEU’s support staff members in England also saw 85 per cent accept the pay offer, with a turnout of 46 per cent.

It comes two weeks after the government agreed to implement the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB)’s recommendation of a 6.5 per cent increase for teachers in England from September this year.

Members of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) in England have already voted to accept the pay rise from September.

Meanwhile, the NASUWT teachers’ union and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) are expected to announce their members’ responses to the pay offer imminently.

The government has said the 6.5 per cent pay award for teachers will be “fully funded”, with £525 million of additional funding for schools in 2023-24 and a further £900 million in 2024-25.

But Ms Bousted and Mr Courtney said: "It remains the view of the NEU that school and college funding is far from adequate. It remains a commitment of the NEU to campaign for further increases in teacher pay.

"Everyone in the school and colleges community deserves an education system that attracts and keeps teaching staff, and one that ensures every child gets the attention and support they deserve. Our campaign for a better-funded education system will not go away."