Members of the National Education Union (NEU) have voted in overwhelming numbers to take strike action for a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise. Our ballot of teacher, support staff and leader members in 23,400 schools throughout England and Wales is the largest vote for strike action achieved by any union ever in the UK.
It sends a resounding message to the Government: we won’t stand by and watch the destruction of education without taking a stand. But it’s a last resort.
No union, particularly one as big as the NEU, can take action unless its members vote for it.
We are the biggest union to achieve this mandate, and it’s built on members’ anger that they cannot do the job they want to do for their pupils. We will need the support of all our members, union reps and branch officers alongside our strong links with our communities to move our political decision makers and to ensure Westminster delivers the fully funded inflation plus pay increase we desperately need.
Why we are taking action
Teachers are facing the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. Members tell us they are struggling with energy costs and childcare and many are now worried about mortgage payments and how they will cover the rent. While bills are soaring the only thing that seems to be going down is the value of our pay.
The pay offer of 5% for most teachers in September 2022 was well below the soaring level of inflation – so this was a real terms pay cut of over 7% in 2022 alone to add to the already major real terms pay cuts between 2010 and 2021. To add insult to injury the pay offer is not fully funded. Teachers have lost 23% in real terms against RPI inflation since 2010 and educators are leaving the profession in their droves.
One in eight teachers leaves the profession after just a year in the classroom – one in three within five. Parents know that teacher shortages are harming education and poor pay is driving teachers away from their children’s schools. Our polling shows they support teachers taking action to protect education standards.
The Government has failed to provide funding to pay teachers properly for the vital work they do despite all the evidence that teachers are the bedrock upon which good education is built.
We have provided strong evidence that a fully funded above-inflation pay increase is needed but this Government has not listened. Now, we need to act together, as a profession, to make it see sense.
For further information please refer to https://neu.org.uk/pay/pay-campaign
Strike Questions & Answers
The NEU has published FAQs which can be found here.
Local Hardship Fund for NEU Swansea Members
Swansea NEU has established a hardship fund to support Swansea members who will suffer significant financial hardship as a result of taking strike action. (If the financial hardship is due to other causes, please contact the national NEU Trust Fund who may be able to help. https://neu.org.uk/trust-fund).
Any eligible member of the Swansea Branch can apply for a grant from the Industrial Action Hardship Fund. To be eligible, the member must show that their needs are significantly greater than members in general. Unfortunately, Swansea NEU cannot give financial aid to all striking members, but only those who will seriously struggle financially when they go on strike.
For details about the fund and the application form, please download the documents below.
Members applying for the hardship fund should download the guide to check that they are eligible to apply. Completed forms should be returned to david.tiltman@neu.org.uk .
National Education Union - Swansea 