Dear colleague

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) have voted in overwhelming numbers to take strike action for a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise.

Of teachers in England, 90.44 per cent of members taking part in the ballot voted YES to taking industrial action on a turnout of 53.27 per cent.

Teachers in Wales voted by 92 per cent for strike action on a turnout of 58.07 per cent.

Support staff in Wales voted 88 per cent for strike action on a turnout of 51.30 per cent.

In England, a ballot result of support staff saw 84 per cent of members vote YES on a turnout of 46.46 per cent. This result, despite being hugely in favour of action, just missed the Government's restrictive thresholds.

Our ballot of teacher, support staff and leader members in 23,400 schools throughout England and Wales is the largest vote for strike action achieved by any union ever in the UK.

It sends a resounding message to the Government: we won’t stand by and watch the destruction of education without taking a stand.

This was a really hard decision for our members to take. They do not want to be on strike. They want to be in the classroom, doing what they do best – teaching and supporting our children and young people.

But it’s a last resort.

The fact that we have met the very high thresholds unjustly imposed by the Government is because our members are desperate. The education system is falling down around them.

We have constantly tried to tell Government that things are going very wrong – in talks with the Department for Education (DfE), in meetings with ministers, in letters, in our evidence to the teachers’ pay review body. But this Government has ignored us.

No union, particularly one as big as the NEU, can take action unless its members vote for it.

We are the biggest union to achieve this mandate, and it’s built on members’ anger that they cannot do the job they want to do for their pupils.

We will need the support of all our members, union reps and branch officers alongside our strong links with our communities to move our political decision makers and to ensure Westminster delivers the fully funded inflation plus pay increase we desperately need.

Every NEU district has received materials to help members and reps on strike days and to build your local demonstrations and other events as part of our campaign.

This hub will provide you with some of these materials electronically, but please do get in touch with your district for the printed versions. You can find their information here.

Yours sincerely