Teachers Look Set to Strike Over Pension Changes

A third teaching union voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing ballots for strike action in opposition to public sector pension scheme reforms on Sunday, further increasing the likelihood of wide-scale industrial action by teachers in the near future.  Of the 386 delegates eligible to vote at Sunday’s National Association of Head Teachers conference, 99.6% voted in favour of balloting for strike action and the remainder abstained.

In a statement on its website, the union commented on the decision to vote for a ballot: “NAHT believes that the proposed changes will seriously damage motivation and morale, exacerbating the already serious problems of recruitment and retention of school leaders.”

The decision to approve balloting for strike action comes off the back of government proposed changes to the way public sector pensions are funded. Under the new proposals payments would increase, payouts would decrease and retirement age would rise to 68. In the words of David Fann, national committee member of the NAHT, “We're going to pay more, work longer and get less.”

This result comes despite the Education Secretary Michael Gove’s reassurances that he would fight the Teacher’s corner when it came to implementing the changes. Speaking at the conference Gove claimed that changes had to go ahead because of the state of the economy, but also suggested that the “unique circumstances” of teachers should be taken into account when it came to implementing the policy.

The decision follows similar positions adopted at the respective national conferences of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers during April.