Latest editorial
People listen to Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary National Education Union (NEU) speaking at a rally in Westminster, London, as they stage walkouts across England in an ongoing dispute over pay, May 2, 2023
TORY ministers can no longer hide behind the school teachers’ pay review body (STRB), England’s education unions stressed today, following reports that it has recommended a higher pay offer than the government’s latest proposal.
According to a leak in the Sunday Times, the supposedly independent body has called for a 6.5 per cent wage increase, significantly above the Department for Education’s (DfE) 4.3 per cent offer.
Unions in several sectors have repeatedly accused the government of using the pay review bodies it appoints to justify enacting yet more austerity on vital public services.
With 170,000 children living in poverty in north-east England and teachers leaving in droves over 20 per cent real-terms pay cuts since 2010, all while private companies siphon off billions, it is time to unite and fight for education, writes MATT WRACK
