Teachers are planning a fresh wave of industrial strikes in September

Teachers are planning a fresh wave of industrial action when the new school year starts in September.

Members of the NASUWT will work to rule and are considering strikes in the row over pay and conditions.

They want above-inflation salary increases that are funded from new government money rather than existing school budgets.

Around nine in ten teachers backed the action with a 52 percent turnout.

Schools in England have already been hit by eight days of walkouts by members of the National Education Union since February.

READ MORE More school strike misery as teachers back walk-out in blow to pupils

The Government offered teachers a £1,000 one-off payment for the current school year and an average 4.5 percent rise for staff next year after intensive talks with the education unions in March.

But education unions involved in the dispute rejected the offer, and the decision on teachers’ pay has been passed to the independent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).

Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, said: “Our members have sent a strong message to the government and to employers that teachers demand a better deal on pay and to address excessive workload and working hours.

“Our members have secured the largest mandate for industrial action by the NASUWT in over a decade, exceeding the government’s anti-trade union ballot thresholds.

“We have today written to the government and to employers confirming the prospect for industrial action in schools the length and breadth of the country from this autumn.

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“The Government must stop playing politics, publish the report of the School Teachers’ Review Body and put an end to the damaging speculation they have allowed to develop over recent weeks.

“The STRB’s recommendation of a 6.5 percent pay award for teachers and headteachers, which has been widely reported, is the minimum to which our members are entitled.

“However, NASUWT members are clear that teachers deserve better than just another real-terms pay cut.

“The Government is ultimately responsible for teachers’ pay and working conditions and ministers must now get back to the negotiating table to agree on a deal that will command the support of our members.”

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