Pay bargaining toolkit

Foreword

The government has decided to honour the recommendation of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) to award a four per cent pay rise to all teachers and leaders in England. It is a testament to the strength of members’ sentiment that the government shifted from its initial recommendation of a 2.8 per cent increase.

However, whilst we acknowledge and welcome additional funding compared to the initial offer, the pay award remains only partially funded.

A separate 3.2 per cent pay rise has also been agreed for school support staff. Although the offer has now been accepted, it follows earlier calls from our sister unions (GMB, Unison and Unite) to reject it.

In many schools, these inadequate pay awards will lead to cuts in services for children and young people, potential job losses, and increased workload for an already overstretched profession. The government must move away from its self-imposed economic restrictions, which result in ongoing austerity. We will continue to campaign for this and for education to be properly funded.

Furthermore, this pay award does not demonstrate that Labour is serious about rectifying the major pay correction that is needed. Our campaign to regain all pay lost in real terms since 2010 remains a priority.

The success of our campaign for fair funding and pay restoration is dependent on our ability to deliver national strike action. This can only be achieved through building the NEU at the workplace – and you, as an NEU workplace rep, are pivotal to this effort.

However, pressuring the government on pay and funding is only part of the battle. Securing the implementation of this year’s national pay awards, removing performance-related pay (PRP) where it is still in place, ensuring the fair treatment of part-time teachers holding TLRs – supported by this year’s STPCD amendment –, and fighting job losses are absolute priorities this term.

Addressing these issues and other unfair pay practices is a challenge that must be tackled at workplace level by organised, proactive NEU groups. Effective workplace organising and the ability to deliver meaningful national change are two sides of the same coin.

This pay bargaining toolkit provides you and your colleagues with the guidance and resources you need to take a proactive approach to pay bargaining in your workplace and secure the changes necessary to ensure teachers and support staff are fairly paid. This is central to our mission to recruit and retain the best educators to shape the future of education.

Daniel Kebede

General secretary, National Education Union