Tuesday, January 31, 2023

UK
Education Secretary ‘squandered opportunity’ to avoid teacher strikes – union

Eleanor Busby and Ellie Ng, PA
Mon, 30 January 2023

The Education Secretary has “squandered an opportunity” to avoid teacher strikes which will go ahead on Wednesday, union leaders said.

Gillian Keegan met the general secretaries of unions representing teachers and headteachers on Monday afternoon in a bid to resolve a pay dispute which threatens disruption to more than 23,000 schools this week.

Walkouts by teacher members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England and Wales will take place on Wednesday – the first of seven days of strikes in February and March – after the talks failed to find a resolution.

Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint NEU general secretaries, said: “Gillian Keegan has squandered an opportunity to avoid strike action on Wednesday.


Kevin Courtney and Mary Bousted, joint general secretaries of the National Education Union, speak to the media outside the Department for Education in London before last-ditch talks with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (Jonathan Brady/PA)

“The Government has been unwilling to seriously engage with the causes of strike action.

“Real-terms pay cuts and cuts in pay relativities are leading to a recruitment and retention crisis with which the Education Secretary so far seems incapable of getting a grip.

“Training targets are routinely missed, year on year. This is having consequences for learning, with disruption every day to children’s education.”

Speaking to the PA news agency outside the Department for Education (DfE) following a meeting with Ms Keegan that lasted more than an hour, Mr Courtney said: “I regret to say that we didn’t hear anything that enables us to say that the strike shouldn’t go ahead on Wednesday.

“There’s no offer from the Secretary of State trying to bridge the gap between us.”


Education Secretary Gillian Keegan
(Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Ms Keegan said it was “hugely disappointing” that the NEU would proceed with strike action in England and Wales on Wednesday.

“These strikes will have a significant impact on children’s education, especially following the disruption of the past two years, and are creating huge uncertainly for parents,” she said.

“With talks ongoing on a range of issues, including around future pay, workload, behaviour and recruitment and retention, it is clear that strikes are not being used as a last resort.”

Ms Keegan added: “I have been clear today that unions do not need to strike to meet with me. I also reiterated my call to union leaders to ask their members to let head teachers know if they intend to strike, helping schools to minimise the impact on children.

“I will continue doing everything possible to protect children’s education.”

The DfE has offered a 5% pay rise to most teachers for the current school year, but the NEU is demanding a fully funded above-inflation pay rise for teachers.

Mr Courtney said talks with the DfE on Monday revealed a “hint” that the Government might come back with “something that was more like an offer” for teachers to avoid further planned strikes after Wednesday.

He told PA: “There certainly is time between February 1 and February 28 to find something that will enable us to call off the strikes on February 28 and later dates in March.

“The question on whether they are prepared to move on it is something that we’re going to have to test out in practice.

“There was just a hint at the end of the discussions today that they might come back with something that was more like an offer … and so we’re hoping for further meetings, and we’re hoping for serious engagement because the issues we’re raising with them are very pertinent and very real.”

Dr Bousted told PA last week that she is expecting more than 100,000 teachers to strike on Wednesday, with “lots of schools” closing their doors.

Following the meeting with Ms Keegan, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “Parents will have been looking for the Government to avert the planned strike on Wednesday.

“Instead, the Government continues to talk around the issues rather than putting anything on the table which allows for any meaningful negotiation.

“It is deeply disappointing.”

DfE guidance suggests agency staff and volunteers could be used to cover classes on strike days, with schools expected to remain open where possible.

(PA Graphics)

In a letter sent by Ms Keegan to union general secretaries on Friday, the Education Secretary asked teachers to inform schools if they plan to strike to help avoid “unnecessary disruption”.

The NEU is required by law to provide schools with the number of members that it is calling on to take strike action in each workplace, but the union does not have to provide the names of members.

Following the meeting on Monday, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “It was good of the Secretary of State to make time to meet with us today. However, the meeting was unproductive.

“This was unsurprising as the Secretary of State was unable to make any offer on the eve of industrial action.

“That being said, there is an agreement that further talks will take place and we continue to hope a resolution can be found.”

Teachers are joining train drivers, civil servants, university lecturers, bus drivers and security guards from seven trade unions who will walk out on Wednesday in disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

‘Every year more is asked’: teachers in England on why they are striking

Clea Skopeliti and Jedidajah Otte
THE GUARDIAN
Mon, 30 January 2023 

Photograph: Julian Claxton/Alamy

Teachers in England and Wales will strike on Wednesday after 11th-hour talks between union leaders and the government failed to find a way to avoid industrial action.

The National Education Union (NEU) is planning seven strike days, with all schools in England and Wales affected on 1 February. In Scotland, teachers are striking in two local authorities a day until 6 February, with the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) subsequently planning further strikes. In Northern Ireland, most teachers will strike for half a day on 21 February.

Four teachers explain how pay erosion, working conditions and staff shortages are leading them to strike.

‘A decade of underfunding has created a social crisis’


“I’m going to strike 100%. My school is shutting for everyone except children of key workers and the vulnerable, and we won’t know until the day who of the teachers will turn up and who will be striking.

“Teachers are on their knees. I absolutely love my job, I am still passionate after 25 years and have never considered leaving but every year a little more is asked and expected of us: we’re dealing with the creeping effects of growing class sizes, teaching assistants disappearing from the system, higher levels of poverty, inadequate school budgets. This week alone I have worked almost 11 hours’ overtime.

“We have more students with mental health issues than ever before. Behavioural problems are escalating and referring students for specialist help takes many months now.

“We are seeing the impact of a decade of underfunding of all the social services, which has left us in a social crisis we’re expected to put right.

“This is not just about pay, it’s about the workload and the impact this has on the students. It’s a mess. That being said – the pay isn’t good enough – 10 years ago I could afford being a single parent of two children on my salary. I couldn’t do that now.” Hannah Betts, 46, a secondary school teacher from Hastings

‘My pay has been slowly eroded away’

“It is a painful decision to choose to strike, both for my students’ education and my own finances. Having worked at the same college for 17 years however, my pay has slowly been eroded away by austerity and many years of 1% pay rises. I’m at the top of my pay scale and it’s not a bad wage but with the cost of living crisis, it’s noticeable that it hasn’t kept in line with inflation and the private sector.

“The pay rise should also be fully funded rather than establishments having to find money out of school budgets, having a further negative impact on already stretched budgets. School budgets have been in crisis for the last 12 years. In recent years, I’ve had very little budget to pay for equipment for my course. If we push for a pay rise out of the school budget, it will have further impact on the students and the quality of education we can provide.

“My college won’t be closed; however, students won’t be on site. Staff who aren’t striking are being told to switch to online delivery for students, striking staff don’t have to provide anything for students. I have my own children at home as their school is also striking, so may take part in some strike action in the morning but I’m not 100% yet.” Luke Warren, 46, music technology teacher in Ashton-Under-Lyne
‘Striking has been a difficult decision for me’

“Striking has been a difficult decision for me. I hear the concerns of parents and students about the effect of the strikes on childcare and their education, on top of all they’ve missed out on already during lockdown. But they do not know what it is like to do this. The mammoth workload and the constant fear of Ofsted mean I work 10-hour days Monday to Friday, topped up in the evening, on the weekend and in the holidays.


“I think we have less public support than striking NHS workers. The parents don’t see the poor sleep, the stress it puts on family life, or know I’ve been taking antidepressants to cope for a long time.

“For me, this is less about pay than investment in the next generation. We’re left with fewer staff and resources. The academisation has led to a market conceptualisation of schools: The pressures of Ofsted are horrendous, and schools are now pitted against each other, while students and parents are seen more as customers or consumers.”

Helena, an English teacher from North Yorkshire

‘I can’t sustain this workload’

“I’m in my second year of teaching – I was working in the private sector before that. The strikes are a last-ditch response to the chronic shortage of teachers caused by poor pay and conditions. You have a lot of teachers taking a time off sick [partly] because of the stress of the job, which means then you’re left with additional cover and teachers covering outside of their subjects.

“Teachers are burning out due to 12-hour days and weekend work. I live over an hour from my job, I’m up at 5am every morning and get home around 5.30 to 6pm. I can’t remember the last time I had a proper lunch break and I’m teaching three subjects. I’m coping because I’m 24 and in good physical health – but a lot of people just can’t.

“I am in teaching for the kids but I can’t sustain this workload. I worry about the missed learning my students will have. We’re struggling morally to take the action but, if shortages continue, not just one year will be disrupted, but a decade.”
Andrew, 24, Secondary school teacher in Thurrock

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