Headteachers to vote over strike

Headteachers are likely to vote at their annual conference over whether to hold their first national strike over pension changes Headteachers are likely to vote this weekend over whether to hold their first national strike in history — a move which could close thousands of schools this summer. Heads are expected to call on the 28,000 members of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) to vote for a ballot over whether to strike over changes to their pensions at the association’s annual conference in Brighton on Sunday. A national strike would be the first in the association’s 100-year-plus history and affect millions of children. It comes after two of the main teaching unions voted to ballot their members for a national strike over pensions earlier this month. Pension reforms, outlined in a government-commissioned report last month by former Labour minister Lord Hutton, call for final-salary schemes to be scrapped and replaced by career averages. Under the plans, teachers would pay higher contributions to their pensions every month and the retirement age would rise to 66 by 2020. At the moment, many headteachers retire at 60. The government has argued that the cost of paying teachers’ pensions is forecast to rise from about £5bn in 2005 to almost £10bn by 2015, as more staff retire and life expectancy increases. Russell Hobby, general secretary of NAHT, said he would encourage heads to vote for a ballot over whether to strike. “The pension reforms would mean the average headteacher would lose £100,000 to £200,000 in retirement and would pay 50% more in contributions, which could cost them £1,000 more each month. This amounts to a pay cut at a time of rising targets in education. Pensions are one of the attractive rewards of the job and we have to stand up for this.” Teaching Schools Trade unions Public sector pay Pensions Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 29, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.