Thanks to Dominic Coughlin, Assistant Secretary for the National Union of Teachers for this latest update. Ed
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) on the Isle of Wight has carried out a survey of its members to assess their reaction to Mr Gove’s plans to worsen terms and conditions, pensions and salaries.
The survey has revealed that a staggering 68% of NUT members are considering leaving teaching or moving to an off-Island school.
This comes at the same time as the Isle of Wight Council are recommending a pay policy to Local Authority schools which still retains some of the worse features of Mr Gove’s recommended Pay Policy.
Council failed to reach an agreement with the NUT
Though there were extensive negotiations over the new pay policy, the Council failed to reach an agreement with the NUT. The local policy does not include “salary portability” when Teachers move Schools from September 2014. This is a less good deal than in other local authorities including Portsmouth and Oxfordshire, the location of the Prime Minister’s constituency.
The new local pay policy, coming on the back of the botched schools’ reorganisation on the Island, introduces further instability when teachers are calling for stability in schools across the Isle of Wight.
3/4 of members believe pay won’t attract teachers
The survey also reveals that 74% of NUT members on the Island do not believe that locally negotiated pay will attract teachers to come to the Island.
Considering the current difficulties in recruiting teachers to Island schools and the record numbers of unqualified teachers being used in them, this policy could lead to a teacher recruitment crisis on the Isle of Wight in the coming year.
In separate negotiations, the NUT, working with other teaching unions, have secured a more favourable pay policy for teachers working in the Academies Enterprise Trust’s (AET) academies on the Island (Ryde Academy, Sandown Bay Academy and Weston Academy). Teachers in AET academies on the Island are set to have a better pay policy than those employed in other Island schools.
Regional strike
On Thursday 17th October, members of the NUT will be joining their sister union, the NASUWT on the Isle of Wight, in a regional strike over pay, pension and working conditions. Teachers are not asking for more, but want Mr Gove to ditch his plans to make teachers work longer pay more and get less in their pension.
Other working conditions which are being eroded include: allowing schools to employ unqualified staff, removing rights to planning time and permitting schools to change the school day and school year without public consultation. This change could cause significant problems for Island families who have children in different Schools.
The survey was carried out between Friday 4th and Monday 7th October with a 43.5% response rate.
Image: Howard Lake under CC BY 2.0
