Mediation Offer in Teacher Pay Dispute
Mediation Offer in Teacher Pay Dispute
BY MATILDA MARTIN
Have you heard about the teacher pay dispute? In this article Matilda Martin writes about how the government rejected an offer of conciliation talks with unions, stating that talks need to happen without the distraction of ongoing strikes. Do you think mediation could help resolve the issue and benefit teachers and students alike?
Teacher strikes: DfE ‘refused’ pay mediation talks offer
Unions criticise education secretary Gillian Keegan after offer of arbitration was rejected
The government is “not serious about finding ways” of resolving the teacher pay dispute, teacher and heads’ leaders have said after they claimed their attempt to break the current deadlock had been rejected by ministers.
Talks between the unions and the government have not taken place since the education secretary requested that strike action by the NEU teaching union must be cancelled before the Department for Education will take part in negotiations.
The NEU, the NAHT school leaders’ union, the NASUWT teaching union and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) wrote to the secretary of state last Monday (6 March) to suggest that a day of conciliation talks could be convened by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).
But the offer was rejected in a letter to unions from Ms Keegan this evening.
