Teachers’ 5.5 per cent pay offer : Vote
The Welsh Government has decided to make a pay offer in line with England and higher than the 4.3 per cent recommendation of the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB) Welsh Government will award a 5.5 per cent pay rise to all teachers and leaders in Wales.
Local authorities will receive additional ring-fenced money to fund this pay rise and to plug the gap between 4.3 per cent and 5.5 per cent. Local authorities had been expected to budget for pay rises between 3.5 and 5 per cent. Welsh Government have confirmed they have received additional money from treasury to increased pay offer.
Our annual conference in April agreed that, when any offer was received, we would conduct a snap poll, asking members to accept or reject. This consultation of all eligible teacher and leader members will run from 1-7 October.
Your national executive recommendation decision
What we know
The 5.5 per cent offer is significantly above the anticipated level of inflation in September (2.5 per cent) and would be the largest real terms increase in teacher pay since 2009. In addition, the Welsh Government have allocated an additional £5 million pounds to enable them to pay ALNco’s on the leadership spine.
This offer has been secured as a direct result of your determined strike action in 2023 and your positive vote on taking further action in our indicative ballot this March.
What we don’t know
The exact sum of additional funding Welsh Government have secured.
The amount that each local authority has budgeted for.
If the addition £5 million for ALNco’s is sufficient to cover both pay uplifts and the professional time out and training learning package also recommended by the IWPRB.
If we can trust that this year that ring fenced additional money will go directly into school budgets (despite assurance in the pay year of 22-23 we know this did not happen in all local authorities across Wales)
Because we did not get all of the clarity we sought during meeting with Welsh Government your elected Wales executive members felt they would put this offer to you neutrally with no recommendation, so that you can have your say and decide if you accept or reject based on what we do know.
It is vital that every member has their say when our snap poll invites all eligible teacher and leader members to vote via text or email on Tuesday, 1st October. The poll will close at midday on Monday, 7October 2024.
While this 5.5 per cent pay offer is not enough to correct over a decade of erosion of teachers’ pay, we believe it is a significant step in the right direction.
We must use the snap poll as a springboard to intensify our campaign for a longer-term correction in teacher pay, workload and flexible working.
As recommended by your national executive I urge you to have your say when our snap poll
opens on Tuesday, 1 October 2024 and please urge your NEU colleagues to do likewise.
You will find a more detailed explanation of the government offer and FAQs on how the snap poll will operate elsewhere on this page, alongside resources you can download to promote the snap poll in your school.
Note: This 5.5 per cent pay award for teachers and leaders is subject to statutory consultation as part of the 2024 School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions (Wales) Document (STPC(W)D). Accordingly, as in previous years, members will not receive it in their pay packets until November, when it will be backdated to 1 September 2024.
Support staff pay
This 5.5 per cent pay award is for teachers and leaders only. Support staff pay is determined by a different process – in negotiations between the Local Government Association and Unison, GMB and Unite.
We are extremely proud of what we, as a whole union and you, as a union rep, have achieved. Together, I know that we can – and will – achieve much more.