Teachers in Wales begin voting on industrial action in row over pay

Teachers in Wales will begin voting for possible industrial action over the “failure by the Welsh Government to give teachers a fully-funded pay award of 12%.”

The NASUWT is recommending that members “vote Yes to taking strike action and Yes to support action short of strike action.”

The union has said ministers “failed to engage in negotiations with the NASUWT, despite repeated calls to do so.”

In 2018 teachers’ pay was devolved to the Welsh Government with recommendations from the Independent Wales Pay Review Body (IWPRB) over what increases should be introduced.

In July the Welsh Government accepted recommendations from the IWPRB which will see teachers receive a 5% pay rise this year with a further 3.5% rise next year, unions rejected the offer.

The ballot which opens today, Thursday 27 October, will close on 9 January, with the result to be announced immediately.

Education Minister Jeremy miles has said the Welsh Government can’t afford to pay them more than the 5% increase on offer.

He said he “absolutely understands the disappointment the teachers are expressing, it’s a reasonable expectation that your pay shouldn’t be eroded by inflation.”

Mr Miles said: “The Welsh Government is not in a position, without significant additional funding from the UK government” to meet the pay claims of teachers.

“We’re looking at the equivalent of around 100 million pounds from the education budget every year.”

“If that’s not funded, then the burden falls on local authorities and it’s the equivalent of about 1600 teachers across Wales. So it’s an impossible situation for us to be in.”

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales this morning, Neil Butler from the NASUWT teachers union in Wales said:

“Teachers have had their pay eroded by inflation for the last 12 years.”

“In fact, a teacher’s pay has been eroded to the point of 25%.”

“They have lost a quarter of their wage in the last 12 years and enough is enough.

“We’ve got a situation at the moment where we’ve had the biggest cuts because a 5% pay uplift is effectively a 5% cut because of where inflation is at the moment.”

“I think our members are fed up, they put so much into keeping schools open, keeping learning going during COVID and to find that they’re still getting this dismissive attitude from the Welsh Government over their pay.”

“I think they’ve had enough and I think that’s why we’re now we’re balloting over pay.

“We’ve got to get the message home that the education service in Wales is being eroded. It’s been damaged by the fact that we can’t attract we can’t retain teacher.”

“What else can we do to make it clear to the Welsh Government, that enough is enough?”

Mr Butler said: “When they (Welsh government) start talking about the funding, and we sympathise with that, because obviously they get the funding straight to the Barnett formula into Wales from Westminster and we’ve got a problem with the funding, but my question is, is why on earth in the first place, did they take on the responsibility for teachers pay without having control over the funding?”

“I don’t really have a great deal of sympathy for that and there’s an awful lot of money, by the way, in education, which doesn’t get into the classroom.”

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary said:

“The NASUWT has done everything possible to seek a resolution to this dispute and to avoid escalation of industrial action in schools and colleges.”

“The Welsh Government has failed to recognise the damaging impact of years of real terms pay cuts on the morale of teachers, which is fuelling the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.

“The 5% pay award for teachers and headteachers is unacceptable at a time when inflation is running at more than 10% and it will result in even more financial misery for hard working teachers.”

“Teachers need and deserve a pay award which will enable them to weather the current cost-of-living pressures and which will begin the process of restoring the real terms value of teachers’ pay.”