Teachers vote in favour of strike
April 2, 2008
Up to 200,000 teachers look set to hold a one day walkout on April 24th in response to the below-inflation pay rise proposed by the Government. A ballot was held in line with legislative requirements relating to industrial action, with a 32% turnout for the vote. The result of the ballot was 75% in favour of a strike. It is 21 years since the National Union of Teachers (NUT) last held a strike.
The proposed pay increase is 2.45%, which is higher than other public sector increases and higher than the 2% cap on public sector increases that was called for by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The argument over inflationary increases relates to the different indexes that inflation can be measured against. The 2% cap is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is 2.1%, but the Retail Price Index (RPI) is much higher at 4.1%. The RPI includes ‘cost of living’ factors such as housing costs and mortgage rates, so arguably it more realistically reflects the type of salary increase required to be able to sustain the same standard of living. Unsurprisingly, the NUT is arguing that the proposed 2.45% represents a cut in the standard of living for teachers.
The NUT is concerned that poor conditions within the sector will lead to problems recruiting and retaining teachers, causing shortages and generally affecting morale. Since there have been regular news items about the issues of bringing more Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) into the profession, and large numbers leaving after a short period, further problems in attracting and keeping quality teachers cannot be a good thing. Just recently I read an article that reported that teaching unions have asked the Government to commit to reducing class sizes to just 20 pupils by 2020. How will this be achievable if not enough new teachers are entering the profession due to poor terms and conditions and bad press such as this industrial action? It all seems like a bit of a mess to me.
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