01 June 2007
A leading teaching union has called for a 10% pay rise for teachers so the profession can compete with the private sector to recruit the brightest graduates.
The National Union of Teachers, in its submission to the School Teachers Review Body for 2008/09, demands a minimum increase of £3,000. It says average starting salaries for graduates are £2,785 (14%) higher than for newly qualified teachers, who on average earn £19,641.
The union also wants an end to performance-related pay, which it said has often been implemented unfairly.
'The government must renew its investment in teachers… This means pay levels that are competitive with comparable employment in both private and public sectors,' the May 28 submission states.
The NUT urged the review body to reject the government's strictures to make pay awards in line with its target rise in the Consumer Price Index.
NUT General Secretary Steve Sinnott said: 'Each time salaries are brought more closely in line with that of comparable occupations, it is not very long till decline sets in yet again.'
PFjun2007
