Commenting on the passing of Motion 31 at NEU Annual Conference in Brighton, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"The current teacher pay system enables unfair treatment and undervalues teachers. Performance-related pay (PRP) was imposed on teachers without evidence and has resulted in unfair blocks to pay progression. Denial of pay progression is common, especially onto and on the Upper Pay Range (UPR). To make matters worse, teachers who get onto the UPR often have unfair additional responsibilities imposed on them without the additional payment that is appropriate for such responsibilities. Existing and potential teachers know about these unfair obstacles to career development exist in the pay system, making it harder to recruit and retain teachers.
"NEU activists have successfully challenged unfair pay practice in many areas. This NEU Conference resolution calls for the experience and expertise acquired by teachers to be properly valued, with implementation of a single classroom teacher pay scale and removal of the unfair barrier to progression and unfair extra responsibilities under the current UPR system. The NEU calls on the Government to implement a fully funded and fair national pay structure for teachers, so that we properly value teachers and tackle teacher shortages."