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The Telegraph
The Telegraph
National
Camilla Turner

Teacher strike would be unforgivable, says Nadhim Zahawi

The shutters were still up at King's Cross St Pancras station in London early on Wednesday, even after services were due to resume following the first day of rail strikes
The shutters were still up at King's Cross St Pancras station in London early on Wednesday, even after services were due to resume following the first day of rail strikes

A teachers' strike would be "unforgivable" in the wake of Covid, the Education Secretary has said, as officials draw up plans for an army of supply teachers to keep schools open.

Nadhim Zahawi said young people had already suffered "more disruption than any generation that’s gone before them" after the UK’s largest teaching union threatened to ballot for a strike.

On Thursday, the Government will reveal plans to change the law to allow businesses to use skilled agency workers to cover striking staff to minimise disruption.

The legislation, which is expected to be in place by this autumn, would allow supply teachers to keep schools open while union members are striking, Whitehall sources said.

It comes as the rail network is brought to a standstill again on Thursday by the biggest industrial action in a decade, as union leaders raised the prospect of a general strike.

On Wednesday, in a letter to Mr Zahawi, the National Education Union became the latest union to demand an “inflation-plus” pay rise. It warned that it would ballot on striking at the beginning of the next school year if its demands were not met.

Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Zahawi said that it would be “irresponsible” and "wrong" to make children endure more disruption after the pandemic.

"Young people have suffered more disruption than any generation that’s gone before them and to compound that now, as recovery is in full swing and families are thinking about their next big step following school or college, would be unforgivable and unfair,” he said.

He added that he was "deeply concerned" that this week's rail strikes were "piling undue stress onto our children, at what is always an anxious time" with hundreds of thousands of pupils sitting GCSEs and A-levels.

Concerns about the impact on students were also raised by the Prime Minister, who called for exam boards to show understanding when marking the papers of students whose journey was disrupted by the stoppages.

But Boris Johnson faced fresh scrutiny and Tory criticism of his economic approach to inflation, which underpins negotiations on rail worker pay.

The decision to increase the state pension and benefits by inflation next year, but reject calls to grant public sector pay rises in line with prices, was dubbed as “crazy” by one former minister.

Lord O'Neill, a Treasury minister under George Osborne, said: “The constant protection of pensioners seems ludicrous in itself and, in these circumstances, particularly crazy.”

But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman doubled down on the stance, saying it would be “reckless” to increase public sector pay in line with inflation as it risked locking in price surges.

Thérèse Coffey, the Work and Pensions Secretary, urged rich pensioners to consider paying back the state pension rise, while Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, played down fears the policy would fuel inflation.

Mr Johnson faces a further test of his leadership in two by-elections on Thursday, as voters in Tiverton and Honiton, Devon, and Wakefield, West Yorkshire, decide whether to return Tory MPs.

Defeat in both constituencies would be seized upon by Tory rebels, who have not given up on their attempts to oust Mr Johnson, despite his victory in a confidence vote earlier this month.

As another day of strikes threatens further economic damage, officials were drawing up legislation that will repeal legal restrictions banning bosses from using agency staff to cover for striking workers.

A spokesman at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said it would “minimise the negative and unfair impact of strikes”, adding: “Strikes in public services such as education can often mean parents have to stay at home with their children rather than go to work, or rail sector strikes stopping commuters getting to work or to other businesses.”

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, added that the unions were “holding the country to ransom” and said: “Repealing these 1970s-era restrictions will give businesses freedom to access fully skilled staff at speed, all while allowing people to get on with their lives uninterrupted to help keep the economy ticking.”

Officials at the Department for Education said that the new laws could play a role in minimising disruption for pupils. Sources said that "all options are on the table".

But the change is unlikely to come soon enough to save a summer of disruption on the rail networks, where bosses are bracing themselves for a fresh wave of strikes in two weeks after talks with the RMT broke down on Wednesday.

In a further threat to the holiday getaway, the Aslef union revealed it has balloted train drivers for action over pay at 11 major train companies across the country. The action could begin just as the schools break up.

On Wednesday Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, laid blame for “wrecked” negotiations on Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, claiming that he was making it impossible for a settlement to be reached because he would not allow withdrawal of a letter threatening redundancies for 2,900 members.

In an angry retort, the Transport Secretary said that was a "total lie" and called for the RMT to “stop wasting time making false claims in the media and instead return to the negotiating table, so an agreement can be reached”.

Mr Zahawi is now facing his own battle with the unions. He said that while teachers deserved to be recognised for their efforts, pegging their salaries to inflation "with a war in Europe and supply chains recovering post-Covid is irresponsible".

On Wednesday morning, the NEU wrote to Mr Zahawi urging him to "respond to the new economic reality of double-digit inflation and the threat this poses to teacher living standards".

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, urged Mr Zahawi to "commit to an inflation-plus increase for all teachers".

The NEU's letter came as the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed that inflation has reached a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent.

A second education union, the National Union of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), has also said it will ballot its members for industrial action if staff are not given a 12 per cent pay rise.

Both unions represent rank-and-file teachers and between them account for the vast majority of staff in schools.

A second education union, the National Union of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), has also said it will ballot its members for industrial action if staff are not given a 12 per cent pay rise.

Both unions represent rank-and-file teachers and between them account for the vast majority of staff in schools.

The NEU has claimed that schools will face nationwide chaos if the strikes go ahead. 

Nadhim Zahawi said it would be 'irresponsible' and 'wrong' to make children endure more disruption after the pandemic - Paul Grover for The Telegraph
Nadhim Zahawi said it would be 'irresponsible' and 'wrong' to make children endure more disruption after the pandemic - Paul Grover for The Telegraph

Mr Zahawi’s attempt to tackle teachers at the first threat of a strike will be viewed in contrast to what was seen as a slow government reaction to the railway unions. Mr Shapps has faced repeated criticism for failing to meet the RMT face to face.

In March the Government submitted its evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body, which proposed an 8.9 per cent increase to teachers’ starting salaries - but just a three per cent increase for their more experienced colleagues.

The body is expected to make its recommendations to ministers in the coming weeks. After that, Mr Zahawi will make a final decision.

Unions argue that teachers’ pay has fallen by a fifth in real terms since 2010 and that the profession faces both a recruitment and a retention crisis, fuelled by low salaries.

Meanwhile, the country’s exam boards are anticipating a wave of appeals from students who have faced disruption as a result of this week’s rail strikes.

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