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Teachers should not be subject to pay rises below the rate of inflation for 6 years which by 2011 will be the case if the proposed pay rises for the next 3 years goes ahead unchanged.

The result of this will be a worsening of the standard of living of all teachers with young teachers particularly badly hit.

A pay award of around 2% was widely predicted, so the 2.45% awarded to teachers for 2008/09 (and
indicative amounts of 2.3% for 2009 and 2010) is a little higher than many people expected. The fact that it is above 2% is a partial success for the NUT’s ongoing and high profile pay campaign.
However, the Retail Prices Index is currently 4.1%, as is the average level of pay rises in the private sector. And the costs of many essentials – including housing, energy, food, childcare, petrol and public transport – are rising at levels well above 4%. Teachers have to cover higher living
costs with less money in real terms. A teacher on UPS3 since April 2005 has already lost out on £1,937 because of below-inflation pay rises, and this figure will rise to £3,610 in the coming
year. For a leadership group teacher on L14, the losses so far are £2,712 and will rise to £5,058 this year.

The NUT says inflation is 4%, but the government says it’s 2.1%. Why the difference?
There are a number of measures of inflation, including the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and the Retail Prices Index (RPI). The government prefers to use the CPI, which is generally lower and doesn’t include some essential costs such as housing and council tax. The Treasury is now seeking to have public sector pay review bodies use an index that also excludes energy costs!
The NUT believes it’s unfair for the government to base public sector pay awards on a measure of inflation that excludes such basic living costs. Pay awards in our country have generally used the RPI as a reference point.

Young teachers are in a particularly vulnerable situation, having seen the RPI-linked interest on their student loan repayments go up by 4.8% in September, while their pay increased by just 2.5%. We will explain to parents that our action is not just about pay but about making sure there are enough teachers – 50% of NQTs leave teaching within their first three years. Also that committed and motivated teachers are essential for the long term future of the education system. You don’t get that by making it even more difficult for young teachers to buy a home.

(HBOS survey shows that the cost of a starter home in the Yorkshire/Humberside region has risen from 2.4 times the average teacher’s salary in 2002 compared to 4.4 times in 2007. The Government’ s preferred index of inflation, the CPI, does not include housing costs.)

(NB The teachers’ award, announced by the government in January, is the first public sector pay award of the 2008 cycle. The below-inflation and staged pay awards for police officers, nurses and others, widely discussed in the media before Christmas, were the final awards of the 2007 pay round.)