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    03

    Apr 2023

    Last Updated: 03/04/2023
    Education
    Education

    Thousands of teachers descend on Harrogate as new strikes called

    by John Plummer

    | 03 Apr, 2023
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    Thousands of teachers are in Harrogate this week for the National Education Union's annual conference.

    Delegates poured into Harrogate Convention Centre this morning for the four-day event, which began with news that teachers had rejected the latest government pay offer and were preparing for more strikes on April 27 and May 2.

    Visitors were greeted by dozens of activists outside the convention centre handing out leaflets and distributing copies of left-wing publications such as Morning Star and Socialist Worker.

    The week will see numerous fringe events take place in Harrogate as well as at the conference centre and nearby hotels.



    The NEU is the largest teachers' union with 32,000 members from 1,700 schools.

    Its latest pay ballot was rejected by 98% of teacher members in England on a turnout of 66%.

    Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, issued a joint statement to delegates in Harrogate:

    "This resounding rejection of the government's offer should leave Education Secretary Gillian Keegan in no doubt that she will need to come back to the negotiating table with a much better proposal.
    "These strikes are more than three weeks away; Gillian Keegan can avoid them.
    "No teacher wants to be on strike. Nor can they accept this offer that does nothing to address the decades of below inflation pay increases making them the worst paid teachers in the UK."