Teaching Unions across the country have started to ballot members over industrial action. On Tuesday Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) announced that a formal vote on industrial action will be taken after a survey of members showed a majority wished to be balloted.
The National Education Union (NEU) has also said it will move ahead with strike proceedings after the Government failed to respond to its calls for an above-inflation pay rise. It will announce a formal ballot and potential dates of strike action at a later date.
Also adding its support to strike action is The National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT). The union, which did not hold a preliminary ballot, has recommended that its members in schools and sixth form colleges vote in favour of both strike action and action short of a strike. Ballot papers will be issued to union members from 27 October, with the vote set to close on 9 January.
Mr Whiteman was speaking at the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Conference in Brighton earlier this week. He told delegates, “Over the course of the last few months, I have travelled the country hearing from our members directly. I have never heard more anger and despair.
“School leaders across the country are telling me that they cannot continue to run their schools in the current circumstances. The neglect of pay in education and the funding to support it is now eroding the quality of education that our members can provide.
“Schools are caught is a vicious spiral. Insufficient pay has contributed to a recruitment and retention crisis. And the failure to fund even the insufficient award this year means that heart-breaking cuts to services will have to be made. Less people and fewer services will lead to an erosion of educational quality.
“Based on current projections, even with this year’s pay award by the Welsh Government, school leaders’ salaries will have lost approximately 22% of their value since 2010. They are feeling demoralised and undervalued. Worse than that, they are finding themselves unable to provide the level of education and support for pupils that they know is needed, due to the massive cost pressures that keep piling on to school budgets and the government’s continued under-funding of education.
“Cuts to LA budgets, spiralling energy bills, inflationary costs, and lack of funding for teachers’ pay this year means thousands of schools are predicting going into deficit. Consequently, school leaders are being forced to make cuts that ultimately cannot help but negatively impact on the education and wellbeing of children.
“This is not a situation the dedicated and caring professionals I represent can put up with any longer. Their primary concern is the education and wellbeing of the pupils and staff in their schools. They are telling me very clearly that they feel unable to continue to operate under these circumstances,” Mr Whiteman explained.
“It is almost unprecedented for the relentlessly reasonable professionals I know our members to be, but we have no choice but to move to a formal industrial action ballot to establish what next steps they would like to take.
“No school leader would ever take any industrial action lightly, but they are telling me they feel compelled to fight for the futures of the children and young people in their care. It is no exaggeration to say that the future of education is on the line,” he continued.
“I have written to the employers in Wales to inform them that we are now officially in dispute, and have explained our situation to the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles. I can only urge the employers and the Welsh Government to listen and take urgent action.
“School leaders will do everything in their power to avoid disruption to pupils. But they are clear that to do nothing will only ensure that nothing changes. My appeal to employers and the Welsh Government is to engage with us and find a solution that serves the needs of the profession and in turn the ambition of young people.”
NAHT Cymru represents school leaders in the majority of primary schools in Wales, 84% of its membership responded to a survey between Wednesday 21 and Friday 14 October.
A total of 91% of respondents indicated they wanted to be balloted on taking action short of strike, should a suitable agreement on pay and funding not be reached. 64% of respondents indicated they wanted to be balloted on taking strike action.
Action short of strike also commenced for school leaders in Northern Ireland this week, after 93% of NAHT(NI) members voted in favour in a formal consultative ballot.