Pay and workload dispute update
In February 2023, Jeremy Miles, the Wales Education Minister, wrote to education unions making workload commitments. Whilst geared towards alleviating the workload of school leaders the Minister did state:
‘We will explore whether we could pause, or otherwise reduce, aspects of current working arrangements and external engagement by consortia and local authorities until September 2023, for example learning walks and observations and book scrutiny, unless schools are in a category, request support or statutory and legal obligations need to be fulfilled.’ [1]
This did not happen. NASUWT members continued to report aggressive accountability measures conducted by school improvement officials or senior leaders up to September. Aggressive monitoring and accountability seem worse than ever.
Regarding pay, the Education Minister wrote in March 2023:
‘I can confirm that should conversations in England result in an offer for teachers and leaders which is higher than any pay settlement in Wales, we would match the pay award.’ [2]
Teachers in England have had a 6.5% pay uplift whilst the Minister awarded 5% in Wales and closed down the Pay Review Body process that had been opened to discuss pay because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Teachers in Wales have nothing to show in terms of pay and workload after many months of negotiations.
The NASUWT pay and workload dispute has been paused. However, the NASUWT is seeking a view from members in Wales as to whether the Union needs to now move towards a ballot over pay and workload.
Footnotes
[1] 24 Feb 2023 - Jeremy Miles MS letter to education unions
[2] 9 Mar 2023 - Jeremy Miles MS letter to education unions
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