Prices Up, Real Pay Falls

The NUT National Executive met on September 5th and agreed to ballot members again for strike action. Ballot papers will be issued nationally to home addresses on October 6th
If the ballot result shows support for action once again, then the Union is likely to start action with another one-day national strike in November. Unlike last time, when the ballot was only for one-day action, this ballot will be for ‘discontinuous action’ which allows the Union to call a series of local and/or national strikes if necessary.

VOTE FOR ACTION!
For NUT members who couldn’t afford to get away this holiday, the weather did its best to make it a bleak summer!
But whether you were unwinding in the sun or the rain, the news on prices was just as bleak.
The Retail Prices Index rose by 5% in July, up from 4.6% in June. Food, fuel and fares - all costs that are hard to avoid - all continue to shoot up.
For teachers, September is the month when our national pay awards come into affect. But, for the fourth year in a row, inflation will be greater than our pay increase.
The Review Body that sets our pay was given a “review mechanism”. It promised to look again at teachers’ pay if inflation went over 3.25%. The Union wrote to remind them of their promise.
In July they wrote back to the NUT to say:
· yes, prices are going up faster than pay;
· yes, teacher vacancy rates are on the rise;
· but NO, we aren’t going to give you more pay!
In short, the government saw our solid action in April, but now hope we’re going to back down without further action. But how can we just stand by and let our incomes fall further?
They want to persuade us that they can’t afford to pay more - but they leave the energy companies’ record profits alone.
No union calls for strike action lightly, but we have a duty to defend teachers and education.
Firm action, jointly with other unions if possible, can make this crisis-ridden government think again and deliver fair pay for teachers.
From Lewisham NUT's September newsletter