Former Fire Brigades Union boss Matt Wrack has been confirmed as the new general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union.
Mr Wrack will succeed Dr Patrick Roach, who has been general secretary since 2020.
The new general secretary takes up the post from tomorrow, 23 April.
As well as the Fire Brigades Union, Mr Wrack was previously president of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). He had been endorsed by NASUWT’s national executive.
Mr Wrack was unsuccessful in a bid to be re-elected as general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union earlier this year.
‘Teachers have suffered’
The NASUWT announcement today comes after the union’s annual conference last week.
Delegates at the event in Liverpool passed a motion calling on the union’s national action committee “to reject any pay award that is not fully funded and to move immediately to ballot members for industrial action”.
The Department for Education has recommended a 2.8 per cent pay award, and has not mentioned any funding towards this. The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) report and the final pay offer have not yet been published.
The NEU teaching union has also voted to launch a formal ballot for strike action if the pay offer remains “unacceptable” or if the government does not announce a real-terms funding increase at the June Spending Review.
Mr Wrack said: “Teachers have suffered as a result of 14 years of austerity; so has education as a whole.
“The Westminster government needs to urgently start investing in education and that includes addressing the fact that teachers’ salaries and living standards have fallen behind.
“Urgent steps are needed to address the issues of teacher workload and of behaviour in schools. Addressing these challenges is essential to starting to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in teaching.”
He also paid tribute to Dr Roach’s work leading the NASUWT, and his role leading antiracist work at the TUC.
NASUWT president Wayne Broom said: “We are pleased to welcome Matt Wrack to the NASUWT where he will play a vital role in the next chapter of the union’s work on behalf of teachers across the country”.
