Teachers (NASUWT) Strike Calendar

• Talks between teaching unions and the education secretary, Gillian Keegan ended with “no concrete progress”, but the door remains open for further discussions.
• Union leaders described the meeting as constructive, but with no extra money for teachers on the table, strikes could be just weeks away.
• Ballots for strike action among hundreds of thousands of union members are due to close this week.
• The National Education Union (NEU) said the Department for Education (DfE) had downplayed any suggestion of addressing this year’s below-inflation pay offer, and there had been no promises on improved pay next year.
• Leaders of all four of the unions who attended Monday’s meeting have offered to clear their diaries for further talks, in the hope of averting strike action.
• Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, the NEU joint general secretaries, said,“If the government wants to avoid industrial action then there is only a small window of opportunity before the NEU declares its ballot result and its plans for action. No one wants to strike and the government can avoid it by talking and making concrete progress on pay.”
• Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, added, “Given the pressing issues, the minister must now intensify and accelerate a programme of further talks. We have been clear we will meet any time and any place to discuss these issues and that we will commit the time necessary to make progress. However, we will remain in dispute with the government unless tangible progress is forthcoming.”

The NASUWT, a teachers' union in Scotland, has announced plans for further strike action in January in an ongoing dispute over pay. The union is calling for a fully funded pay award of 12% for 2022/23, arguing that the current offer, worth between 5% and 6.85%, amounts to a real-terms pay cut as inflation reached 10.7% in November. Primary teachers will strike on 10 January, while secondary teachers will walk out on 11 January. The Educational Institute of Scotland and the SSTA union will also be participating in the action, leading to widespread school closures across Scotland. The unions have concluded that co-ordinated action is the most effective way to ensure that all teachers can participate in the strike and to send a united message to the Scottish government and employers.