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British teachers who went on strike three weeks ago over a pay dispute are preparing for a new round of strikes starting later this month. File photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE
April 5 (United Press International) — Schools across Britain are facing a wave of strikes after a third teachers’ union said on Wednesday its members had rejected the government’s latest pay proposals.
The National Association of Principals says its 37,000 members have vote overwhelmingly refused The government’s “insufficient and unaffordable” pay proposals are being considered for a vote on strike action.
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More than 90 percent of union members said they couldn’t afford the proposal, saying they didn’t have enough room in their budgets to pay for the salary proposal for the school year that begins in September.
Four out of five members also expressed a willingness to strike.
“Our members do not recognize the government’s affordability calculations for the offer, with an overwhelming majority of principals and heads of school business saying they cannot afford the increase in existing budgets,” the NAHT secretary general said. paul whiteman“This is a very clear stumbling block and the government has to listen and address this issue if we hope to end this dispute.”
NAHT’s national executives will now meet to discuss next steps, including a formal vote on industrial action.
The government’s proposal is a 4.3% pay increase — even higher for new teachers, who will start at $37,500 — plus a one-time payment of $1,250 for this year. Teachers are also concerned the proposal is unfunded and schools will have to pay for the raises from existing budgets.
On Tuesday, the 450,000-member National Education Union supported more strike In addition to the two days of strikes scheduled for April 27 and May 2, there could be more strikes in the fall.
At the union’s annual conference in Yorkshire, delegates voted for a three-day strike in late June or early July.
“If the government does not resolve the current pay dispute, the NEU will re-vote members in the next academic year for a new mandate for further industrial action,” union says in the press release.
The strike could continue into the new school year if members show their support.
“For parents, we say we don’t want to destroy education, when in fact our actions are aimed at getting the government to invest in the education of this generation of children and those who teach them,” NEU said.
“We’re asking our school representatives to work with principals to develop a plan to ensure Year 11 and Year 13 students have a full education plan for the upcoming strike days.”
Three other unions, NASUWT, the Association of School and College Leaders and the Union of Colleges and Universities, are also voting on strike action against their members.
Members of the Universities and Colleges Union voted on Monday to renew their union vote to take strike action over pay, pensions and working conditions, moving closer to campus strikes affecting 150 UK universities in the coming months.
The government said schools would be able to pay for most of the pay rises from the budget, calling further strike action “extremely disappointing” and threatening to withdraw its pay rise proposals if the strike went ahead.
The union argues that the pay rise should be fully funded because taking money from the school budget could lead to cuts in other areas.
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