Government prepares to overrule Review Body

Rishi Sunak’s pay plans are an outrage

Every NEU member needs to know what has happened since our last strike action in May.

• Following our strike action in May, Gillian Keegan ended talks with teacher unions and said that the STRB will make the final decision on the teacher pay rise for September 2023.

• Rishi Sunak also said that we should trust the Review Body process because they are independent

• Two weeks ago we heard that the STRB has recommended an increase of 6.5% – still below inflation but more than the government wants to give us.

• Since that news broke the NEU has been asking Gillian Keegan to publish the STRB Report and confirm that she will accept this recommendation.

• We are now hearing reports that the government may OVERRULE the STRB and award a pay rise of less than 6.5%.

This is an OUTRAGE that should make NEU members very angry. This is an OUTRAGE that deserves the strongest possible response from NEU members. This an OUTRAGE that makes our strike action next week, and our re-ballot, much more important. A few weeks ago Gillian Keegan said we couldn’t have a higher pay rise because inflation is coming down. Now she says we cannot have a higher pay rise because inflation is going up. But it is not public sector pay rises that cause inflation, but excessive boardroom pay and company profits.

NEU RESPONSE

1. We are calling on all teacher members to support our strike action on 5th and 7th July.

2. We are calling on all teacher members to join local rallies and demonstrations.

3. We are calling on all teacher members to make sure they vote in the re-ballot.

4. We are calling on all support staff members to vote in their ballot, which started this week.