Headteachers may soon be reballoted for strike action to escalate pressure on the government, as their union described the chances of talks over pay as a “false hope”.
All four education unions expressed disbelief and exasperation after education secretary Gillian Keegan turned down their request for negotiations mediated by the official conciliation service Acas to end the current impasse. In a letter last March 8, Keegan continued to insist no talks could happen unless the National Education Union (NEU) paused the national walk-outs scheduled for the following Wednesday and Thursday . While the NEU voted for strike action, in January the National Association for Headteachers’s vote fell just short of the threshold.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, told the Observer: “We are fast running out of tarmac before we have to go back to reballot. When do we decide talks are just a false hope? We aren’t there yet, but we are not very far away.” He described Keegan’s refusal to consider mediation as “extraordinary”. “I’ve never been turned down on using Acas to try and break a deadlock in any industry I’ve worked in,” he added. “Does this government have no experience of industrial relations?”
Members of Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, have voted to accept a pay deal, ending its long-running school strikes, it confirmed on Friday. Ninety per cent of members backed the sixth offer made to them, which will result in a 7% pay rise backdated to April 2022, a further 5% next month and another 2% in January.
