NEU strike ballot paused due to Labour putting 'its money where its mouth is'

The NEU teaching union has paused its formal ballot for strike action, with its general secretary saying the government had shown it was “willing to put its money where its mouth is”.

The union had planned to launch the strike ballot over funding and pay in October, but the NEU’s national executive has decided not to go ahead with the vote after the government said it would not “claw back” pension contribution savings from schools to help cover the cost of teacher pay rises.

As Tes reported last week, there is no new funding for schools and many schools had already factored in that money in their budgets for this year.

In July ministers accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review body for teachers and agreed a 3.5 per cent pay rise from this month, but the Department for Education said schools would be expected to fund some of the pay award out of their existing budgets.

In April more than nine in 10 NEU members who voted in the union’s indicative ballot said they would be prepared to take industrial action to get more funding for schools.

A formal ballot of NEU teacher members in state schools in England on strike action was due to start on 3 October and close on 15 December.

Teacher pay deal without funding ‘was never viable’

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: “A pay deal without funding was never viable. We have been clear with ministers that their talk of hope and opportunity for young people counted for little without the investment to turn those words into reality.

“This is the strongest signal yet that the new administration is willing to put its money where its mouth is.

“It is my sincere belief that we now have a genuine opportunity on our hands to build on this victory, leverage our success and make austerity in the classroom a thing of the past.”

But he added: “The NEU is clear schools have been starved of funding for a sustained period - and the government must not stop here.”

In a statement, education secretary Lucy Powell said: “I will always back teachers, support staff and the whole school workforce so they feel valued, have the support they need and are rewarded and recognised for the amazing work they do.

“Pleased to see the NEU has agreed to stop its ballot for industrial action.

“There’s a lot to do to get our education system working well for every child, so let’s work together to achieve that.”