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New school strike fears in pay battle

By Connor Stringer

SCHOOLS face yet more closures because of strikes as the country’s largest teaching union urged its members to reject a fresh pay offer.

The call by the National Education Union last night sparked fears that pupils could face more misery less than two months before some sit their GCSE exams.

The offer made to teachers includes a £1,000 extra cash payment this year and a 4.3 per cent pay rise for most staff in 2023/24. But the deal was dismissed by union bosses, who demanded an ‘overwhelming rejection of it’.

Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, said: ‘This is an insulting offer from a Government which simply does not value teachers.

‘By refusing to address the legitimate and reasonable request to bring to an end more than a decade of belowinflation unfunded teacher pay increases, the Government is driving teaching and recruitment retention in schools in England to breaking point.’

The offer will be put to NEU members, with a recommendation to reject, in a ballot which opens on Monday and closes on Sunday April 2.

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2023-03-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

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