Pay review?

Teachers have called for their latest pay settlement to be reviewed after inflation rates reached 4.8% yesterday, above the cap written into their pay deal.  The current pay settlement, which was agreed in 2005 and runs for two years, includes an inflation trigger mechanism.  The agreement specified that if inflation rose above 3.25% it was open to the teaching unions or the government to seek a review of their 2.5% pay rise.  The NUT's general secretary, Steve Sinnott, said:

"The trigger mechanism was designed to protect teachers from excessive inflation reducing the value of their pay increases set two years in advance.  There must be no return to boom and bust salaries for teachers. The government cannot allow salary levels in the profession to become ever more unattractive."

This comes after the NASUWT passed an emergency motion at its annual conference in Belfast authorising a membership ballot to gauge the level of support for industrial action if such a pay offer is made to teachers later this year.  The NUT has also agreed to ballot its members for a one-day strike as the "first stage" in a campaign to alert Mr Brown to the union's opposition to any pay rise in the region of two per cent.

The DfES said that any strike by teachers over pay would only cause disruption in the classroom. A spokesman said: "Strikes only achieve one thing - disruption to pupils' learning. Teaching remains one of the most respected and rewarding professions, with an 18% real terms increase in the average teacher's pay since 1997."