Thousands of teachers are set to walk out of classrooms over pay after the largest education union reached the threshold required to take strike action.
The National Education Union (NEU) had organised a ballot of 300,000 members in England and Wales, calling for a “fully funded, above-inflation pay rise”.
Nine out of 10 teacher members of the union voted for strike action and the union passed the 50% ballot turnout required by law to take industrial action.
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The union has declared seven days of walkouts in February and March, but it has said any individual school will only be affected by four of the days.
The first day of strikes will be on 1 February and more than 23,000 schools in England and Wales are expected to be affected
The full list of proposed strike days are:
• Wednesday 1 February: all eligible members in England and Wales
• Tuesday 14 February: all eligible members in England and Wales
• Tuesday 28 February: all eligible members in the Northern, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber regions
• Wednesday 1 March: all eligible members in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and Eastern regions
• Thursday 2 March: all eligible members in London, South East and South West regions
• Wednesday 15 March: all eligible members in England and Wales.
• Thursday 16 March: all eligible members in England and Wales.
In England, 90% of NEU teacher members who voted in the ballot backed strikes, with a turnout of 53%.
In Wales, 92% of NEU teacher members who voted in the ballot backed strikes, with a turnout of 58%.
Support staff in schools in Wales are also set to go on strike in the dispute over pay after 88% of balloted members backed action, with a turnout of 51%.
However, the NEU’s ballot of support staff in schools and sixth-form colleges in England did not achieve the 50% ballot turnout required by law for action.
In a statement, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, accused the government of having “sat on their hands” rather than trying to resolve the issue of pay.
“This is not about a pay rise but correcting historic real-terms pay cuts,” they said.
“Teachers have lost 23% in real-terms since 2010, and support staff 27% over the same period.
“The average 5% pay rise for teachers this year is some 7% behind inflation. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, that is an unsustainable situation.
“The government has also been happy to sit by as their own recruitment targets are routinely missed.
“Teachers are leaving in droves, a third gone within five years of qualifying.
“This is a scandalous waste of talent and taxpayers’ money, yet the government seems unbothered about the conditions they are allowing schools and colleges to slide into.”
The statement continues: “The government must know there is going to have to be a correction on teacher pay. They must realise that school support staff need a pay rise.
“If they do not, then the consequences are clear for parents and children.”
It adds: “It continues to be the aspiration of the NEU and its membership that this dispute can be resolved without recourse to strike action.
“We regret having to take strike action, and are willing to enter into negotiations at any time, any place, but this situation cannot go on.”
In England and Wales, most state-school teachers had a pay rise of 5% in 2022.
But with inflation remaining at more than 10% and a cost of living crisis affecting households across the UK, unions have argued that such increases amount to a pay cut in real terms.
The government continues to insist that pay claims are unaffordable and is sticking to its belief that wage rises should be decided by pay review bodies.
Last week, a ballot of members of the NASUWT teachers’ union failed to reach the 50% turnout threshold, although nine in 10 of those who did vote backed strikes.
Earlier this afternoon, ahead of the strike ballot results, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We would continue to call on teachers not to strike given we know what substantial damage was caused to children’s education during the pandemic and it’s certainly not something we want to see repeated.
“We would hope they would continue to discuss with us their concerns rather than withdraw education from children.”
It comes as the wave of industrial action which has swept across the country for months is set to continue this week.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) across England will walk out on Wednesday and Thursday.
