Major victory for fair pay and conditions at Harris Federation
NEU members have won a landmark victory within the Harris Federation, securing improved terms and conditions for teachers, support staff, and overseas trained teachers (OTTs).
Read our press release - NEU members and reps secure a resounding improvement in the workload and pay conditions of educators and overseas trained teachers in Harris Federation.
All teachers and support staff at the 18 Harris academies who stood up for their rights should feel proud of the stance they were prepared to take for fair pay, conditions and the unjust treatment of overseas trained teacher colleagues. While there is still more to do this is a remarkable achievement and a testimony to the strength in collective action.
NEU members within Harris Federation will continue to build their unions and press for more change to ensure they are treated fairly and with respect, and that learning conditions for pupils improve.
Background history
In October 2023, hundreds of NEU members completed a survey outlining the impact of unrelenting workloads on their mental and physical health, personal lives and desire to stay in the profession. Most Harris schools had no PPA time protected on timetables, many schools were well over on directed time, and the expectations felt never-ending for many.
Meanwhile, members raised concerns that they were being denied pay progression because of the results of one exam class. In February 2024, over 50 Harris Overseas Trained Teachers (OTTs) came together and shared their significant financial, professional and emotional struggles due to an extremely unfair transition, which saw them often paid £10,000 less per year than their UK-trained colleagues for several years. NEU reps and members were clear that to win any real improvements on these issues, they would have to work together and organise a campaign across the Federation.
Surveys and member testimonies did not win the improvements needed on workload, pay progression and the treatment of overseas trained teachers, nor did 1,100 Harris educators sign letters supporting changes in Spring term 2024.
In the Summer term that year, when over 60% of members in 18 schools signed a pledge to strike, the Federation agreed to some of the improvements outlined in our pamphlet. A vote in an indicative ballot for strike action, followed by a successful formal postal strike ballot, secured all the rights you now have in policy.
