The NEU teaching union should launch a formal ballot on industrial action if the outcome of the pay review body process “remains unacceptable”, according to a motion at the union’s annual conference.
Teachers at the conference in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, which started today, will debate whether the country’s biggest education union should launch a formal ballot on strike action over pay and funding.
Delegates at the conference are due to vote on whether union districts and branches should “immediately prepare” for a formal ballot on industrial action.
The urgent motion - if accepted - would instruct the union’s executive to launch a formal ballot if the final outcome of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) process “remains unacceptable” or if the government does not announce a real-terms funding increasing in the June spending review.
The move comes after a preliminary ballot in which the vast majority of the 47.2 per cent of eligible NEU members in England who took part said they would be willing to take strike action to secure a fully funded, significantly higher pay award.
NEU strike threat
In its evidence to the STRB in December, the Department for Education said a 2.8 per cent pay rise for teachers in 2025-26 would be “appropriate” and would “maintain the competitiveness” of teachers’ pay despite the “challenging financial backdrop” that the government is facing.
The pay review body is yet to make a formal recommendation for teacher pay in England.
The urgent motion, due to be debated in a private session at the conference on Tuesday morning, says the government’s recommended 2.8 per cent pay rise from September is “inadequate” and will prevent the government from achieving its target of recruiting 6,500 more teachers.
It calls on the union’s executive to encourage districts, branches and school groups to lobby the government immediately to publish the STRB report and “prepare for a formal ballot”.
Overall, in the NEU’s preliminary ballot, 93.7 per cent of members in state schools in England voted to reject the government’s recommendation of a 2.8 per cent pay rise - and 83.4 per cent said they would be willing to take action to secure an increased pay award.
However, less than half of eligible members took part in the vote, which is below the 50 per cent threshold that is required in a formal ballot.
The urgent motion says a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise for educators is “necessary”.
Delegates at the conference are able to submit amendments to the motion on pay, tabled by the union’s executive, until Monday afternoon.
Teachers in England received a fully funded 5.5 per cent pay rise in September.
NEU members staged eight days of strike action in state schools in England in 2023 in a long-running pay dispute.
In July 2023 the government agreed to implement the STRB’s recommendation of a 6.5 per cent increase for teachers in England, and coordinated strike action by four unions was called off.
Following the results of the preliminary ballot last week, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: “The government’s response is a 2.8 per cent increase from September, which will be below inflation and way behind earnings growth in the wider economy.
“To add insult to injury, the pay offer is unfunded, with government suggesting ‘efficiencies’ will cover the cost.
“Our members tell us every day of the desperate state their schools are in due to lack of funding - and this will only make things worse.
“The government must listen to our profession and change course on teacher pay. And it must recognise the dire state of school funding and invest in education, to give the next generation the best chance possible in life.”
In a statement after the vote, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said a move towards industrial action “would be indefensible”, given the work that is being done to increase school attendance, and urged the NEU to “put children first”.
Latest
Update (15 April): NEU members voted to carry the urgent pay motion unamended on Tuesday at their annual conference.
The carried motion also called on the union’s executive to “consider disengaging” from the review body process “if government does not accept any STRB recommendation above inflation”.
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