London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Apr 20, 2025

Teacher strikes: Unions team up in England pay dispute

Teacher strikes: Unions team up in England pay dispute

Teachers in four unions in England say they will team up on any strike action over pay - which could mean full school closures in the autumn term.

Only the National Education Union (NEU) has enough backing from members to organise walkouts at present. The next strike will be on Tuesday.

But the three other unions, including two for head teachers, are asking their members whether they want to strike.

The government said co-ordinated action would be "unreasonable".

The four unions teaming up in the dispute are the NEU, the NASUWT, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, called their decision to co-ordinate action an "unprecedented show of solidarity".

Joined-up strike action - if it were to happen - would affect every state school in England, according to Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU.

Between 300,000 and 400,000 teachers could be involved, he said during a joint press conference at the NAHT conference in Telford.

"We would sincerely apologise to parents for disrupting their children's education if we're pushed to that," he added.

Many teachers are about to be asked for a second time whether they want to strike.

Three of the unions have already held ballots this year. However, when the results were announced in January, only the NEU had enough members voting to move ahead to strikes.

NEU walkouts have been held since February, and it is about to reballot its members - asking them whether they would want to continue strike action into next term.

The NASUWT union and the NAHT did not meet the turnout threshold needed to strike in England in their last ballots - but both are due to reballot their members ahead of next term.

The fourth union, ASCL, is due to ballot members for the first time in its history.

More than half of England's 22,000 schools either closed or partially closed on NEU strike days in February and March.

If members from several unions, including head teachers, were to walk out together, it is likely there would be more full school closures.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "For unions to co-ordinate strike action with the aim of causing maximum disruption to schools is unreasonable and disproportionate, especially given the impact the pandemic has already had on their learning."

The joint announcement comes after the NAHT announced it would be reballoting members on pay, funding, workload and wellbeing.

Katie Chilvers, a Year one teacher in Birmingham, supports the NEU strike action and has walked out this year.

Katie Chilvers said she has been using social media to support the cause rather than striking


But she did not take part in the latest strike on Thursday because she could not "justify" losing another day's pay.

"We're looking at around £80 a day that we'd lose out on, on average," she said.

She said she was finding other ways to support the cause, such as "spreading the word" on social media.

The NEU says members can apply to access hardship funds.


What are teachers' pay demands?


Most state school teachers in England had a 5% rise in 2022, and a 3% rise was recommended from September 2023.

But the unions want above-inflation increases, and extra money to ensure any pay rises do not come from schools' existing budgets.

After the February strikes, the government made a new pay offer for school teachers, which included a £1,000 one-off payment this year and a 4.3% pay rise for most staff in September.

The starting salary for teachers in England is also due to rise to £30,000 a year by September - a previous government commitment.

The Department for Education described it as a "fair and reasonable offer" and said that schools would receive an extra £2.3bn over the next two years.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said in December that the increased funding would mean that school spending per pupil "will grow in real terms through to 2024 and will return to at least 2010 levels".

All four unions rejected the offer. They said it was still not fully funded, meaning schools would have had to make cuts elsewhere to afford it.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the offer was no longer on the table, so the decision on pay would now be made by the independent pay review body.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
This is Vienna, Austria in 2025.
Boeing Jet Returns to US from China Amid Tariff War
Canadian Federal Election: Candidates' Positions on US-Canada Relations and Donald Trump
Resentencing Hearing for Menendez Brothers Who Killed Their Parents Delayed Amid Legal Disputes
Australian Woman Gives Birth To Stranger's Baby In IVF Mix-up
US Sets Deadline for Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal Brokerage
Italy Introduces 'Sex Rooms' in Prisons for Inmates
California Launches Legal Challenge Against Trump Administration's Tariffs
"Groundless": China Dismisses Zelensky's Claims It's Supplying Arms To Russia
UK Psytrance Festival Cancelled Amid Local Protests Over Noise Concerns
French Far-Right Writer Renaud Camus Denied Entry to UK
UK Police Force Updates Search Policy for Trans Individuals in Custody
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Meets with Donald Trump to Discuss EU-US Trade Tensions
Canada's Federal Party Leaders Engage in Final Debate Ahead of General Election
Ukraine and US Sign Outline of Minerals Deal
Fast Food Chain Refuses to Apologize for Online Comment About Katy Perry's Space Voyage
New York Attorney General Letitia James Faces Criminal Referral for Alleged Mortgage Fraud
Mark Cuban admits support for Trump executive order: ‘Gotta be honest’
US Senator Meets with Deported Immigrant in El Salvador Amid Custody Dispute
U.S. State Department Raises El Salvador’s Safety Ranking, Making It Safer Than France and Other European Nations
UK Government Assumes Control of British Steel's Scunthorpe Plant Amid Shutdown Threat
UK MP Wera Hobhouse Denied Entry to Hong Kong During Family Visit
Bangladesh Issues Arrest Warrant for UK MP Tulip Siddiq
China Urges United States to Cancel Tariffs Amid Escalating Trade Tensions
The Empire’s USD Pyramid Scheme Is Working Brilliantly—So Why ‘Fix’ It?
China Raises Tariffs on U.S. Goods to 125% Amid Escalating Trade Dispute
Elon Musk Reports $150 Billion in Projected Government Savings Amid Fraud Investigations
U.S. and Panama Finalize Defense Agreements Amid Canal Access and Chinese Influence Concerns
China Stands Firm Amidst Trade Disputes with the US: A Factual Analysis
U.S. Tariff Escalation Sparks Global Trade Tensions
Helicopter crashes in NYC with four people on board.
Australia Dismisses China's Suggestion to Collaborate Against US Tariffs
EU Postpones Response to US Tariffs
The Trump Administration is contemplating removing Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges.
Violent Incidents and Public Safety Concerns Escalate in London and County Durham
UK MP Arrested on Suspicion of Rape and Child Sex Offences
UK Gears Up to Respond to US Tariffs with Industrial Strategies and Trade Initiatives
‘Rocky’ star Dolph Lundgren and his wife Emma Krokdal bask in the Miami sunshine following the actor’s lengthy health struggles.
Spain Encounters Countrywide Protests as Housing Crisis Intensifies
Alisha Lehmann's Modeling Campaign and Public Controversy Stir Debate Ahead of UEFA Women's Euro
U.S. Firms with Major International Revenue Exposure in Light of New Tariffs
President Trump Calls on the Federal Reserve to Reduce Interest Rates in Light of New Tariffs
President Trump Prolongs TikTok Sale Deadline by 75 Days
Global Markets Dive Amid Rising U.S.-China Trade Conflicts
British comedian Russell Brand faces charges of rape and several sexual assaults.
Kanye West Reveals in a New Song That His Wife Bianca Censori Has Departed from Him
Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme Accused of Having Sex with Human Trafficking Victims
Tom Cruise Pays Tribute to Val Kilmer at CinemaCon
Europe Pursues Digital Autonomy Amidst Transatlantic Strains
OpenAI Lands Unprecedented $40 Billion Funding.
×