Team Blitz India
LONDON: Teachers’ strike over pay has ended in England, after all four unions accepted a 6.5% pay rise. Members of the NEU, the UK’s largest teaching union, voted overwhelmingly to accept the pay offer. The NASUWT and NAHT unions also accepted the deal on July31, with ASCL doing the same earlier in July.
The NEU has decided against striking in the autumn term after accepting the government’s pay offer.
The Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the offer being accepted was “good news” for teachers, parents and pupils. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, writing on Twitter, said, “This is a big moment.”
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said the deal meant the average teacher’s salary would increase by £2,500. Both sides in the dispute said the pay offer was “properly funded” and would not come from existing school budgets.
However, the unions also said they were not fully satisfied with the offer they have accepted. Bousted said the NEU’s campaign for improved pay and higher funding for schools “will not go away”.
Paul Whiteman of the NAHT also pledged to continue to negotiate with government on issues around workload and wellbeing.
