A potential government offer of a one-off payment to teachers is unlikely to be enough to prevent upcoming strikes in England and Wales, the head of the biggest teaching union has warned ahead of talks with ministers on Monday.
Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said while talks with the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, were welcome, she was sceptical about what could be achieved.
Unions representing teachers, medics and transport workers will be meeting with ministers on Monday, after the government formally offered talks last week.
While ministers are insistent they cannot increase existing pay offers for the current 2022-23 year for a series of public sector workers on strike or balloting for strikes, including nurses and ambulance staff, they are considering a one-off payment to NHS staff.
A similar offer to teachers would be “superficially attractive”, Bousted said, but was problematic because that increase would not be built into future pay.
