Britain's largest teaching union has taken the first formal step towards nationwide strikes in 2025, declaring an all-out battle over teacher pay and school funding.
Budget Disappointment Fuels Strike Motion
The Left-wing National Education Union (NEU), representing half a million education professionals, expressed outrage following last week's Budget which contained no significant financial commitments for schools. Union leaders have now resolved to hold an indicative ballot to gauge member support for industrial action.
Daniel Kebede, the NEU's general secretary, didn't mince words about the situation. 'This week's budget failed to address the existential crisis our schools are facing,' he stated, painting a bleak picture of 'cold classrooms, leaking roofs, broken toilets' across the country.
The Core Funding Dispute
At the heart of the conflict lies the government's proposed 6.5 per cent pay increase for teachers, to be spread over the next three years until 2029. The union describes this offer as 'below inflation' and, crucially, 'unfunded'.
This unfunded nature means schools would need to find the money for salary increases from their existing budgets, potentially forcing them to make cutbacks and redundancies elsewhere. The union highlights this as particularly damaging given current pressures on educational resources.
The only direct education funding announced in Wednesday's Budget amounted to £5 million for secondary school libraries and £18 million for playgrounds - sums the NEU considers insufficient to address systemic underfunding.
Strike Timeline and Potential Impact
The union's action plan involves two stages. First, an indicative ballot will determine whether members have appetite for strike action. If this shows sufficient support, a full formal ballot will follow.
Any resulting walkouts would likely occur in autumn 2025, potentially causing widespread school closures and forcing parents to arrange last-minute childcare. With half a million members, the NEU has significant capacity to disrupt education across England and Wales.
Mr Kebede emphasised the union's determination: 'We will not stand by as this Government continues to underfund our schools and drive education into the ground. We are prepared to take whatever action is necessary to save our schools.'
The Department for Education defended its position, stating: 'Despite deeply challenging choices about public spending, mainstream school funding will rise again next year, receiving almost £51 billion.' They also highlighted that teacher pay would rise by 'almost 17 per cent across this parliament'.
