Schools: fight for pay and funding!

The government has agreed to honour the School Teachers Review Body (STRB) recommendation of 4% pay increase for teachers for the academic year starting September 2025.

They have also agreed to fund 3%. Given the government’s submission to the STRB was for a 2.8% rise not funded, this is a significant improvement and at least partially can be accounted for by the National Education Union campaign on pay and funding.

At its annual conference, the NEU voted to proceed to a formal ballot of its teacher members over industrial action if there were not an above-inflation pay settlement and if it wasn’t fully funded.

Unfortunately, as Educators’ Fightback has noted before, the union didn’t spell out either a clear set of demands or a strategy to win them. In light of the government agreeing the 4% rise and funding 3% of it, the Executive has gone against the conference decision and is having another digital consultation of members. This consultation will open on 21 June and run until 27 June. 

It is wrong that the conference’s clear decision has been ignored by the Executive and it sets a worrying precedent. That said, it is unlikely that a formal ballot for industrial action for a better offer and full funding would win, given the improved settlement and the aforementioned lack of strategy and clear demands. It is particularly problematic as the focus has now narrowed to ensuring the 4% is fully funded. Asking members to take strike action to win funding, where they wouldn’t see any difference in their pay, but they would lose pay every day they struck is not a recipe for mobilising our membership. The leadership of the union seems to be intent on running down the dispute, claiming the improved settlement as a victory and expecting the membership to experience ballot fatigue.

The persistent use of indicative ballots and consultative surveys is having an increasingly negative effect on member confidence and energy. It’s not just that it leads to ballot fatigue (amongst local officers and reps as well as members). It also signals that the union leadership itself has no confidence that we can win. Better if they said that and honestly argued it. Instead, they repeatedly survey until the turnout is low enough to blame members.

With Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation currently running at 4.5% and Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation at 4.1%, it is entirely possible that this settlement will be a real-terms pay cut. Not fully funding it will mean more cuts from a school system that is in crisis.

To win on pay and funding, we need to mobilise as many members as possible. Our support staff members are more acutely affected by both low pay and funding, and should be fully involved in the campaign, being consulted and balloted alongside teacher members.

We need clear demands on pay and funding: something like 2 per cent above inflation or £3,000, whichever is greater. The strategy for the dispute must include demonstrations and campaigning, but also a rapid and escalating programme for industrial action.

We need to be arguing for these things in our workplaces, Districts and throughout the union. In the meantime, we should respond in the consultation to move to a formal ballot and then to industrial action, and we should campaign and argue with others to do that too.