London Daily

Focus on the big picture.

Teachers in England will not back down over pay, says union

Teachers in England will not back down over pay, says union

Teachers in England "will not back down" over pay, the National Education Union (NEU) says, after talks with the government did not lead to a new offer.
More than half of schools in England closed or partially closed when teachers in England and Wales went on strike on 1 February.

More NEU strikes are planned for this month and next.

The Department for Education said the talks earlier were "constructive".

A spokesman said they discussed "a range of issues", including workload and teacher recruitment and retention.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan asked officials to hold "further detailed talks with unions" and "committed to more talks ahead of planned strike action," the spokesman added.

After the meeting, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said there was "nothing... we could work with to justify suspending the next day of regional strikes" on 28 February.

"While there was a more positive tone at today's talks and more meetings will be set up as a result, the outcome was still disappointing," he said.

"Gillian Keegan and the government need to be aware that teachers will not back down on this."

Teachers in Wales have rejected an improved pay offer from the Welsh government, and will return to striking on 2 March.

Industrial action had been planned for 14 February, but was postponed after ministers offered an additional 1.5% rise on staff salary and a one-off 1.5% payment. The offer was put to NEU members over the weekend, but they turned it down.

The Scottish government has also put forward a new offer - a 6% pay rise in the current year and a further 5.5% in the new financial year, which starts in April.

EIS, Scotland's biggest teaching union, said no decision had been made on whether to suspend action.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, warned that without an improved offer in England, its own members - and those of other unions - could conclude "that industrial action is the only option left".

"There is a limit to how many times we can come out of a meeting with the education secretary without progress being made," he said.

Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT union, said unions were "still some way off from hearing what specific proposals the government is willing to put on the table".

"Given developments in Wales and Scotland in the last week the education secretary has some catching up to do," he added.
Newsletter

Related Articles

London Daily
0:00
0:00
Close
NGOs Condemn Home Office's £15m Offer for Deportee Resettlement
Sue Gray's Salary Sparks Controversy Among Labour Advisers
Navigating Fashion: UK Leaders' Spouses in the Media Age
Top UK Food Firms Criticized for High Emissions
Keir Starmer Pressured to Select Outsider for Top Civil Service Role
British MPs and International Organisations' X Accounts Hacked
Diddy Charged with Racketeering and Sex Trafficking
X Update Enables App to Bypass Brazil Ban, Say Internet Providers
Delta Airlines Sets Strict Wardrobe Guidelines for Flight Attendants
Norway Achieves Milestone in Electric Vehicle Adoption
Hezbollah Hit by Explosive Pagers in Lebanon
Ex-Soldier Describes Trump Assassination Suspect's Troubled Ukraine Stint
The Observer, World's Oldest Sunday Newspaper, Up for Sale
JPMorgan in Negotiations with Apple Over Credit Card Partnership
Ghislaine Maxwell's Sex-Trafficking Conviction Upheld by Appeals Court
Will the Blind Commander-in-Chief Lead Blind Voters into War?
Hillary Clinton Suggests Jailing Americans for Posting “Misinformation”
El Salvador's Bold Move: President Bukele Declares End to External Debt Reliance, Thanks to Bitcoin
Startup Nation Unleashes Cyber Mastery: Hezbollah’s encrypted pager devices began simultaneously, exploding across Lebanon, including in Damascus. Initial reports estimate around 1,000 casualties so far.
Patient Controls Amazon's Alexa Using Brain Implant
Murdoch Family Legal Feud Could Alter Fox News' Future
US Diplomat Condemns Racism Against Indian Americans
Amazon Mandates Full Return to Office for Employees
Starmer Interested in Italy's Albania Asylum Plan: Meloni
Traffic to be Banned from London's Oxford Street under Sadiq Khan's Plan
Sky Betting & Gaming Reprimanded for Data Misuse
Ex-BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Sentenced Over Indecent Images of Children
UN Chief Criticizes Israel's Collective Punishment of Palestinians
High School Dropout Turned Billionaire and Space Tourist
FBI Investigates Assassination Attempt on Trump in Florida
A History of Assassination Attempts on US Leaders
UK Drops Harvey Weinstein Indecent Assault Charges
David Lammy Defends Political Donors Funding Clothing for UK Leaders
Starmer Pressured to Distance UK from Italy’s Immigration Approach
UK Airport Expansion Plans Amid Controversy
Columnists Resign from Jewish Chronicle Over Fabricated Gaza Articles
Jeremy Corbyn Advocates for New Leftwing Party
Successful Splashdown of SpaceX Polaris Dawn After Pioneering Private Spacewalk
UK Royal Family Extends Birthday Wishes to Prince Harry
Switzerland Unveils Alps, a High-Speed Supercomputer for AI
Hong Kong Criticizes UK Lawyers for UN Appeal on Behalf of Jimmy Lai
Keir Starmer Accused of Breaking Rules Over Party Donor Gifts
Poorest Families in UK Forced to Sleep on Floors Due to Lack of Beds
Ed Davey Urges Immediate NHS Investment
Staff Overwhelmed Due to New Child-to-Staff Ratio Rules in English Nurseries
US and UK Alarmed Over Potential Iran-Russia Nuclear Collaboration
Father Convicted of Rape Stripped of Parental Responsibility
Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' Series Displayed Together for the First Time in London
Queen Elizabeth II Statue Sparks Debate in Northern Ireland
Prince Harry Turns 40 Amid Royal Family Estrangement
×