Teachers’ strikes: Unions demand ‘concrete’ pay offer ahead of crunch talks

Published

2 years ago

February 15, 2023

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Union leaders have urged the education secretary to make a “concrete” pay offer for teachers to prevent further strikes going ahead in schools in England ahead of crunch talks today.

Gillian Keegan is set to meet with the leaders of unions representing teachers and headteachers in a bid to resolve the ongoing pay dispute and to prevent further walkouts in the coming weeks.

Regional strikes in England are due to take place by National Education Union (NEU) members on 28 February, 1 March and 2 March, with national strikes in England and Wales planned for 15 and 16 March.

Earlier this month, the majority of schools in England were forced to shut their doors to some pupils during the first day of walkouts by NEU members.

Ahead of the talks, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said the lack of a resolution is “putting children’s education at risk”.

He said: “While it is positive that the secretary of state is talking to us, the government is fast running out of time to do the right thing and what we really need to see now is a concrete pay offer.

“Our members have waited long enough after enduring more than a decade of real terms pay-cuts which are fuelling a really worrying recruitment and retention crisis against a backdrop of a mounting workload, long hours and the legacy of the pandemic.

“This is putting children’s education at risk and neither the profession nor families across the country will forgive the government if it fails to act.”

While Patrick Roach, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) teaching union, said: “Whilst we welcome the opportunity to meet again with the government to discuss our ongoing pay dispute, we now need to hear specific proposals from the education secretary which will address our members’ concerns.

“Ministers cannot continue to play for time. We need to see concrete proposals from the government which can form the basis for a negotiated settlement of this dispute.”

Last week, the NEU suspended a planned strike in Wales after receiving a pay offer from the Welsh government.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said the move in Wales should pile more pressure on the education secretary to bring forward proposals on teachers’ pay to avoid further strike action.

The Welsh Government has offered teachers in Wales an extra 1.5% on this year’s 5% pay award, as well as a 1.5% one-off payment.

Mr Courtney said: “We think that the government in Westminster can do better than the government in Wales because it has more financial resources.”

On Tuesday evening, the Scottish government revised its pay offer for teachers.

The new offer would see all staff earning up to £80,000 receive a 6% increase from 1 April 2022 and 5.5% from 1 April 2023.

Meanwhile, those earning in excess of £80,000 would receive £4,800 for 2022/23 and £4,400 for 2023/24.

University staff and civil servants are set to take to picket lines today as the latest wave of industrial unrest continues to sweep across the country.

Tens of thousands of University and College Union (UCU) members will remain on strike at 150 UK universities in a dispute over pay, pensions and conditions.

Around 100 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union at the British Museum in London, working in visitor services and security teams, will continue their strikes as part of a dispute over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security.

PCS members are also on strike this week at the Department for Work and Pensions, DVLA and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Ministers continue to insist increasing wages to that level would fuel inflation, and its top priority was to cut that down over the coming weeks and months.

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Trump’s USAID cuts could lead to 14 million deaths, report warns

Published

7 hours ago

July 1, 2025

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Trump's USAID cuts could lead to 14 million deaths, report warns

Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.

Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.

Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.

“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.

USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.

The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.

Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.

USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.

Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.

But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.

In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.

The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.

Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.

The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.

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Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra suspended amid outrage over leaked phone call

Published

10 hours ago

July 1, 2025

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Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra suspended amid outrage over leaked phone call

Thailand’s prime minister has been suspended after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian politician caused outrage.

An ethics investigation into Paetongtarn Shinawatra is under way and she could end up being dismissed.

The country’s constitutional court took up a petition from 36 senators, who claimed dishonesty and a breach of ethical standards, and voted 7 to 2 to suspend her.

The prime minister’s call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, sparked public protests after she tried to appease him and criticised a Thai army commander – a taboo move in a country where the military is extremely influential.

Ms Shinawatra was trying to defuse mounting tensions at the border – which in May resulted in the death of one Cambodian soldier.

Thousands of conservative, nationalist protesters held a demo in Bangkok on Saturday to urge her to step down.

Her party is clinging on to power after another group withdrew from their alliance a few weeks ago over the phone call. Calls for a no-confidence vote are likely.

Deputy prime minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will take over temporarily while the court looks into the case.

The 38-year-old prime minister – Thailand‘s youngest ever leader – has 15 days to respond to the probe. She has apologised and said her approach in the call was a negotiating tactic.

The popularity of her government has slumped recently, with an opinion poll showing an approval rating of 9.2%, down from 30.9% in March.

Ms Shinawatra comes from a wealthy dynasty synonymous with Thai politics.

Her father Thaksin Shinawatra – a former Manchester City owner – and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister before her – in the early to mid 2000s – and their time in office also ended ignominiously amid corruption charges and military coups.

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Benjamin Netanyahu to meet Donald Trump next week amid calls for Gaza ceasefire

Published

16 hours ago

July 1, 2025

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Benjamin Netanyahu to meet Donald Trump next week amid calls for Gaza ceasefire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.

The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.

On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”

At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.

The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.

An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.

She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.

The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.

An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.

Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.