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Original poster

Welsh Government pay offer

31 replies

Filterphobia · 08/02/2023 18:54

It seems the Welsh Government have offered teachers the same as they have offered the nurses. Can someone help me understand what this offer means?

So it’s an additional 3% this year with only 1.5% consolidated. So am I right in thinking that means come September my pay would go back down by 1.5%? That’s how I understand it but from discussions I’m having with others they seem to think it’s 3% this year plus an additional 1.5% from September.

Either way, there’s absolutely no mention of where the funding is coming from and whether or not this is expected to be paid from already stretched and squeezed school budgets.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64568330

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Original poster
Filterphobia · 08/02/2023 20:11

BBC have updated the article which makes it much clearer, 1.5% pay rise with a 1.5% one off payment

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DrMadelineMaxwell · 08/02/2023 22:01

Not mentioning how it will be funded is a worry.

I'm not sure how quick/slow the NEU process is to clear it and whether it means that Tuesday's strike will or will not happen. I suppose we wait and see.

I'm interested to see the details for this statement, and what it practically means...
A Welsh government spokesman said the "revised package" include "significant non-pay commitments relating to workload in the short, medium and long term".

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 09/02/2023 07:30

Any offer would have to be put to the membership - the NEU could cancel the Welsh strike whilst this happens BUT the offer is so small, I doubt they will. They can ballot members on whether to accept the offer (which will take more than a week) and still strike next week.

If there's no mention of how it will be funded then it's guaranteed to be funded from existing budgets.

I suppose any offer is better than the silence from the DfE in England but part of the issue is attracting people into education, right? A one off payment doesn't help with that.

Original poster
Filterphobia · 09/02/2023 10:40

My colleague in SLT has had an email from NAHT Wales and it states that the 3% increase this year will come from LA funding.

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DrMadelineMaxwell · 09/02/2023 13:29

2nd strike day has been postponed to give time to agree it or otherwise.

Original poster
Filterphobia · 09/02/2023 14:22

I have just seen the news about the strikes being postponed. I’m really disappointed that they have postponed the strikes over a 1.5% pay increase. It barely seems worth all the effort!

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DrMadelineMaxwell · 09/02/2023 15:59

I'm guessing any ballot might say no they aren't happy with that and the strike may still happen at a later date.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 09/02/2023 20:27

Yes, I'm assuming they may reballot with an aim to getting it through before 15th so Welsh teachers/support staff could still join the 2 day strike.

Do feed back via your local officers or whoever that you're not happy about the strike being called off.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 09/02/2023 20:33

Apparently the strike has been postponed to the 2nd March, with the other March dates still in play.

Original poster
Filterphobia · 13/02/2023 19:56

Has anyone heard any news on what’s happening next? I’ve had no communication from the NEU and neither have any of my colleagues. We all feel left in the dark about the pay offer. Does anyone know if it will go to ballot?

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DrMadelineMaxwell · 13/02/2023 20:44

They are holding a zoom meeting tomorrow for all school and branch representatives. If you don't have a rep yet you can allocate one to attend.

Original poster
Filterphobia · 14/02/2023 19:17

Did anyone attend the meeting and has anymore information?

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Original poster
Filterphobia · 15/02/2023 10:35

In case anyone is interested I have been informed that there was an online poll during the zoom and 91% voted to reject the pay offer. Looks like it’s back to strike action.

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DrMadelineMaxwell · 16/02/2023 06:20

I wonder how many people attended. Its not my union but most of the people in my school are part of it. Several got the email about delaying the strike which mentioned the meeting but not the time. And noone at work received any details about accessing the zoom. I dont know who the NEU considers to be our representative because like a lot of schools they haven't sorted out an official one.

I'm not convinced the govt will budge on their offer.

Original poster
Filterphobia · 11/03/2023 09:34

Just bumping this up again due to the new pay offer announced yesterday.

so 11.8% accumulative pay rise over 22/23 and 23/24.

22/23 6.5% (plus extra 1.5% non consolidated)

23/24 5%

I believe it’s going to a ballot next week. I’m not sure how much difference the workload element will make. It all seems a bit woolly.

Anyone in Wales willing to share their thoughts on it?

It’s not quite as much as Scottish teachers have accepted. I think it’s a good offer and obviously much better than England where they won’t even enter negotiations. If Scotland and Wales agree offers hopefully it will put more pressure on England to come to the table.

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DrMadelineMaxwell · 11/03/2023 11:23

NEU are sending info about the ballots soon, and holding a zoom meet on Tuesday.

Most importantly, as far as most of my colleagues are concerned, and certainly my HT, is the fact that these are fully funded pay rises. No direct knock on to redundancies due to a hit to the budget, which was going to be the case in our school.

They've promised to match any payrise that England secure (ha!) if it's better than what has been offered.

Workload offer does seem woolly and I want more info on that. Interestingly, a while back, more ppa was mentioned as a possibility in NEU letters, but that wasn't in the info yesterday. And not sure how school would be able to afford to cover it anyway. Long gone are the days where they gave money to the budget to pay for actual teachers to cover PPA.

TheMoth · 11/03/2023 13:14

As a teacher who works in England but lives in Wales, it will be interesting to see how it will work if schools in Wales are paying more. Vacancies don't seem to come up that often, compared to the nearest English schools, which often makes me wonder if the schools are better to work in.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 11/03/2023 15:49

TheMoth · 11/03/2023 13:14

As a teacher who works in England but lives in Wales, it will be interesting to see how it will work if schools in Wales are paying more. Vacancies don't seem to come up that often, compared to the nearest English schools, which often makes me wonder if the schools are better to work in.

I think this about the pay offer in Scotland. I know it's not that simple to move to Scotland as a teacher, but people who live close to the border, or work over the border must be thinking about it? I know I would be.

Big pay disparity between the nations will hurt English schools even more, and I think puts real pressure on the DfE to make a decent offer.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 11/03/2023 17:30

There's not that much in it, but schools are already paying more in Wales to staff on each pay point. A few years ago (I can't remember when) there was no payrise in England but rise in Wales. So there's a bit of a difference already.
This will only be compounded if England doesn't come through with a similar deal for English teachers.

Eg
M1 Eng £28,000, Wales £28,866
M6 Eng £38,810 Wales £39,873
UPS3 Eng £43,875 Wales £44,450

DrMadelineMaxwell · 11/03/2023 17:33

Figures correct for Sept 22

Original poster
Filterphobia · 13/03/2023 18:47

Hopefully it does put pressure on the government to start negotiations in England. I think pay should be equal across the nations. Although I am glad that Wales have had the offer and that it has been agreed to be fully funded. It will be interesting to see if it gets accepted or not.

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Postapocalypticcowgirl · 13/03/2023 19:46

Filterphobia · 13/03/2023 18:47

Hopefully it does put pressure on the government to start negotiations in England. I think pay should be equal across the nations. Although I am glad that Wales have had the offer and that it has been agreed to be fully funded. It will be interesting to see if it gets accepted or not.

I can understand pay being different in Scotland as it is a different education system BUT at M5 it looks like you would be paid nearly 10k more, which is huge!

Wales is very similar, I believe, though- apart from expectations around Welsh.

I do think the DfE should be considering the loss of teachers from England, but I don't know if they care.

Original poster
Filterphobia · 14/03/2023 18:30

Update from the union meeting:

The union feel it is a strong offer.

A ballot will open on Thursday and will close at 5pm the following Thursday.

I guess we will just have to wait and see what comes of the ballot.

Does anyone know if NASUWT or NAHT are balloting?

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DrMadelineMaxwell · 14/03/2023 23:40

NASUWT did a 'flash ballot' on the offer and report that 69% of members rejected the deal as it falls short of what they wanted.
So it is interesting that the NEU say it is a strong offer.

Also interesting is the fact that the pay award that went through in Scotland was the sixth offer to be made. Maybe enough members will vote no still to hold out for more!

Original poster
Filterphobia · 15/03/2023 06:39

Wow I’m surprised that 69% of NASUWT voted to reject considering that union didn’t even pass the threshold for strike.

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