‘Striking is the last option for professionals after all other avenues have been exhausted’

May 1 2008 by Sarah Miloudi, Western Mail

AN estimated 900 schools in Wales were last week forced to close or cancel lessons as the National Union of Teachers went on strike over pay. But not every teaching organisation voiced its discontent in the same way. Sarah Miloudi asks four teaching unions in Wales why they took their chosen course of action

Iwan Guy, acting director, National Association of Head Teachers Cymru
Industrial action must be capable of achieving a successful outcome for those embarking on such action, and the NAHT feels the industrial action undertaken by the NUT cannot achieve this end.

Will the recent action have an impact on pay for teachers? We very much doubt it. The School Teachers’ Review Body reported, and the Secretary of State accepted their recommendations in full.

We have put considerable pressure through the provision of evidence on both the department and STRB to address the leadership pay issues and it is evidence, not industrial action, which influences STRB, as their most recent report (17th report, part 2) shows.

We believe that further evidence on teachers’ pay – as STRB has proposed – is a better way to deal with this issue, despite our sympathy with the NUT’s basic point that school teachers’ pay is not a devolved issue.

In its 15th report, the School Teachers’ Review Body recommended that should the average rate of headline inflation for the 12 months preceding April 2007 or April 2008 fall below 1.75% or exceed 3.25%, any of the consultees can ask the STRB to consider the case for seeking a remit from the Secretary of State to review teachers’ pay.

The latest inflation figures published on April 15 showed the increase in the RPI as 3.8% for the year ending March 2008. This brings the average annual rate of increase for the year to 4.1% – well above the 3.25% trigger.

All teachers unions – with the exception of the NUT – as consultees are part of the social partnership and have written to the STRB requesting they consider seeking a remit from the Secretary of State to review teachers’ pay for the period September 2007 to April 2008.

The NAHT prefers to concentrate our energies on dealing with the STRB in a way which may achieve some improvement. The NUT has chosen a different route to the other unions, and the NAHT would not attempt to negate their action.

Finally, it appears not all NUT members are themselves convinced by the action. We have had a considerable number of applications for membership from NUT deputy and assistant heads who were completely unwilling to take strike action when that could not achieve any meaningful outcome.

Rhys Williams, NUT political officer - page 2