School closures likely after teachers vote to strike

This is probably old news by now but just in case anyone’s missed it there is likely to be widespread public and private sector school closures across England and Wales on the 30th of June after both the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers voted in favour of strike action.

Although the turnout was quite low (around the 40% mark in both ballots) the decision was close to unanimous among those who did vote (92% voted in favour in the NUT ballot while 83% voted in favour in the ATL ballot). It is the first time that the ATL have voted to take strike action which is an indication of the strength of ill feeling among educators over the proposed pension reforms.

Although talks are continuing Ministers have indicated that they will implement the recommendations of the Hutton Review in to public sector pensions. This would see a rise in employee contributions of 3% at a time when teachers salaries have been frozen for 2 years. According to Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, this will result in an additional contribution of some £1500 for the average ATL member. It would also see a rise in the retirement age for state employees from 60 to 66 (fazed in by 2020) and the abolition of final-salary schemes in favour of a scheme based on average career earnings.

The government has called the decisions of the NUT and ATL irresponsible, especially as talks are ongoing. They argue that despite the proposed changes public sector pensions will still compare favourably to the vast majority of pensions in the private sector. Proponents of the strikes argue that pensions should not be taxed to pay for the budget deficit and that teachers should not be penalised in this way when their pension schemes are not in deficit.

In the wake of the NUT and ATL decisions both GMB and Unison (the largest public sector union) have indicated that they will move towards a ballot in the coming weeks sparking fears of a summer of discontent. There is also a distinct possibility of further public sector strike action in the Autumn.