EXECUTIVE MOTION ON PAY

We note that successive years of below-inflation pay deals has seen teachers' pay fall in real
terms by 13%. Other public sector unions are campaigning for a real pay rise.

In particular we note 14 health unions have written to the government, not waiting on pay review
bodies, demanding a 3.9% plus 800 rise matching the current RPI measure of inflation which
includes housing costs and a flat rate on top to begin to restore cuts in living standards.

We also note the joint claim by UNISON, UNITE and GMB for 5% for two million local
government workers including school staff.

We further note that:

a) the relative decline in teachers pay is a major factor in the recruitment and retention
problems facing schools something the STRB has referenced in its last two reports.

b) the governments failure to provide extra funding for the 2% mainscale increase has
further increased the pressure on school budgets;

c) recent reports have suggested that the STRB may be asked to consider lifting the pay
cap for teachers.
d) the parliamentary petition launched by NEU members Worth 5% on school staff
pay and funding has attracted significant support.

We resolve to:

i) approach other teacher unions to discuss the possibility of submitting a joint pay claim
along the same lines as health unions;

ii) ensure that a key demand in such a pay claim is that it is fully funded by the government;

iii) (and then renumber below) ensure that our pay claim includes a demand for a
parallen rise for non-teaching members of the NEU (including teaching assistants and
admin staff) and approach other unions representing support staff to try to coordinate a
claim and campaign with them.

iii) prepare briefing materials on the problems of teacher recruitment and retention to
underpin why this claim is necessary;

iv) develop campaign materials, that link our pay claim to the need for increased school
funding, encouraging members and parents to support the campaign;

v) encourage local associations to discuss pay and funding and consider ways in which
these campaigns can be developed locally among both school staff and also taking
the campaign for a proper pay rise along with proper school funding out to parents in
every area.

vi) ask executive members and regional officers to discuss holding rallies and other events,
working with other unions campaigning on pay and funding;

vii) invite leading political figures who have expressed support for our pay claim, to join such
rallies to build the widest possible support for our cause.
viii) [Replace this with the red text that follows] consider using internal polling of members to
establish the level of support for a pay campaign, including willingness to vote for strike action
on this issue;

Make clear to members that if the government does not listen we will have to be prepared
to take strike action both locally, regionally and nationally- to win decent pay and the
funding needed.

With this need and aim in mind to draw together a serious national campaign which has
the aim of getting the union in the position where it could call and win a national action
ballot. Such a campaign should include regional div secs and reps briefings, rallies,
campaign materials and the imaginative use of social media in the kinds of way
demonstrated by the CWU recently.

ix) work with local associations and regional offices to monitor LA and MAT pay policies to
ensure that joint union guidance on the 2017 increase is being implemented and support
action where this is not happening;

x) continue to work with other unions through the TUC campaign Britain Needs A Pay Rise
and to support any unions taking strike action as part of this;

xi) include the need for school support staff to have a pay increase in our publicity and
materials.

xii) As a priority raise the pay campaign with members at the planned school meetings taking
place over the next two months

We see pay and winning proper funding for schools as inextricably linked as, unless any pay
award is full funded, it will simply lead to cuts elsewhere in schools. We therefore resolve to
build the campaigns on pay and funding in parallel and include in any pay claim that it be fully
funded by the government.

We resolve to approach other teaching unions with a view to submitting a joint pay claim for all
teachers along the lines outlined here and to work to reach such an agreement. However, given
the urgency of the pay situation, such discussions must be time limited and therefore we resolve
to submit a pay claim by the end of this term at the latest with or without agreement with other
teaching unions.

We further agree to ask the executive of the NEU ATL Section to consider this motion
and submit it for discussion at a future NEU Joint Executive Committee.