NUT: Depressing public sector pay in deprived areas would only further depress local economies
Commenting after the debate on the priority motion on pay, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers? union, said;
?The NUT is completely opposed to the Government?s plan to attack national pay and conditions arrangements for teachers. Our head teacher members are only too well aware of how difficult it would be to establish their own pay system for their school. Not only would it take an inordinate amount of time, local pay bargaining in some 25,000 separate schools would create unnecessary bureaucracy, complexity, cost and potential inequity.
?Depressing public sector pay in areas where there is generally lower pay would only serve to further depress local economies.
?The current two-year pay freeze for teachers follows a long period of real terms cuts, when their pay awards were well below inflation and will be followed by a cap on pay. The impact of the pay freeze has already hit teachers hard. The cut in take-home pay caused by increased teacher pension contributions from this month and continued high levels of inflation will make this much worse.
?Cutting the real and relative value of teachers? pay will make teaching as a career much less attractive. It will certainly also inhibit the movement of teachers around the country.
?The NUT will seek to work alongside other teacher unions to defend teachers against any proposals to attack national terms and conditions.
END pr53-2012
For further details contact Caroline Cowie on 0207 380 4706 or 07879480061
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