First, A Few Facts....

1. As teachers, our pay increases have been held down to, or below, inflation in recent years.
2. We received a 2.5% rise from April 2004; 2.5% from April 2005; 0.75% from September 2005; 2.5% from September 2006 and will receive 2.5% from September 2007.
3. On top of this, anyone who is still in receipt of management allowances has not had a rise in the allowance since April 2003.
4. Also, from January 2007, we are all paying an extra 0.4% towards our pensions, cutting our rise from last September down to effectively 2.1%.
5. Annual inflation is currently running at 4.2%. Pay rates in the private sector are rising by more than 4% per annum.
6. Teachers begin their career earning 10% less than other graduates. After 5 years in the job, the gap has widened to more than 20%. This is in an era when far more jobs have graduate status.

Then, a Proposal from Mr Johnson, the Secretary Of State For Education, to the School Teachers’ Pay Review Body....

“I request the STRB, in line with our school funding reforms, to make recommendations on an award which runs from September 2008 - August 2011;....

….whether teachers' pay should increase and if so, the appropriate increase....

….in particular you should continue to base pay settlements on the achievement of the inflation target of 2 per cent , and the need for education funding to meet a range of priorities linked to school improvement.”

Then, An Opinion From Mr Brown, The Chancellor...

"You will have seen our determination to address public sector pay with this year's public sector settlements down to just 2.25 per cent. We will maintain vigilance in the fight against inflation. We recognise that around the world what's driving public sector inflation is rising public sector labour costs.

"Public sector payments must now be founded on meeting that 2 per cent inflation target ."

Finally, A Comment From Us....

Peanuts till 2011?

No thank you Mr Johnson!

No thank you Mr Brown!

It’s an old trick to try to get teachers and other public sector workers to pay for public services by cutting their standard of living. It was tried to disastrous effect by Labour in the late 1970s. It does you no credit to think about repeating it.

We won’t let it happen now!

Nor will we allow Regional Pay to be used as a mechanism for reducing pay in areas such as ours, as is now being proposed for some of the Civil Service.

Our Conference was quite clear that we would seek united action with other teachers’ organisations and other public sector workers to defeat these proposals.

NASUWT, UNISON and PCS have already expressed similar intentions to fight a public sector pay freeze.