Any industrial action by headteachers would likely be co-ordinated with teacher strikes, a union leader has said. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders鈥� union, revealed today his organisation was considering calling an emergency executive meeting to discuss a potential ballot after members voted 鈥渙verwhelmingly鈥� to reject the government鈥檚 pay offer. The NAHT announced this morning that 90 per cent of voting members rejected the offer of a 拢1,000 one-off payment this year and a 4.3 per cent rise for most teachers and leaders next year, on a turnout of 64 per cent. I can’t imagine a situation where all the unions would be in dispute and wouldn鈥檛 coordinate action And 78 per cent said they would be prepared to vote for and take industrial action, up to and including strikes. The union said its executive would now meet to discuss next steps 鈥渋ncluding a formal ballot on industrial action鈥�. Whiteman told journalists at the today the executive was due to meet on April 27, but leaders were discussing whether they needed an 鈥渆mergency鈥� meeting sooner. He said he was 鈥渉opeful鈥� any potential ballot would perform better than the union鈥檚 last vote, which fell short of the 50 per cent turnout threshold required. But he added 鈥測ou can never be complacent about that. I mean, those thresholds are designed to make sure you don鈥檛 get across.鈥� Co-ordination would make ‘stronger’ point Whiteman also indicated his union would seek to coordinate any potential action with other unions. The NEU has announced two more days of strike action next term and delegates voted in favour of holding three more before the summer. The ASCL school leaders鈥� union has also rejected the pay offer and is considering its next steps, and the NASUWT teaching union is expected to announce its results later this week. Paul Whiteman 鈥淚 think we need to also keep an eye on what ASCL will choose to do, what the NASUWT will announce and what their choices are. I can’t imagine a situation where all the unions would be in dispute and wouldn鈥檛 coordinate action.鈥� Doing so would 鈥渕ake the point as strongly as it possibly can鈥�, Whiteman added. He admitted that heads walking out alone was 鈥渘ot going to have the same level of disruptive impact as mass walkouts by teaching unions鈥�, with schools 鈥渦sed to operating with their head being in meetings and in other areas鈥�. 鈥淏ut the symbolism of school leaders saying 鈥榶ou cannot separate us from our teams and we鈥檙e standing up for education in the same way鈥� is really very very important. 鈥淲hat school leaders are saying is they’re prepared to take action to show that they can’t find any more solutions, they’re completely out of solutions to make the budget go any further. They don’t have any solutions to recruit people that don鈥檛 want to come into the profession.鈥� Whiteman also revealed the NAHT鈥檚 membership had grown from 35,641 at the end of December to just under 37,500, a rise of around 5 per cent in just three months.
Phil 8 April 2023 For the ASCL and the NAHT to be taking a stand is unprecedented! Thgey normally adopt the government stance in every situation. Surely this shows that something has gone seriously wrong with the DfE and the education secretary, with their view being totally out of touch with the reality of schools today. Maybe employing MPs that have an understanding of the department they are leading would begin to alleviate this problem? Perhaps a stint in work shadowing for prospective depatment leads would be a useful activity. The Education secretary could shadow Head teachers and Teachers for a week, Health secretaries could shadow consultants and junior doctors for a week… just a thought.