Jersey teachers threaten to take industrial action after final 7.9% pay offer not improved

Teachers in Jersey will be balloted on whether to take industrial action after the government refused to improve their pay offer.

The National Education Union (NEU) says there has been no improvement on the 7.9 per cent pay offer made at the beginning of negotiations.

The teaching union says they will ballot members due to the lack of progress and flexibility of the government's States Employment Board (SEB).

Union representatives met with the Chief Minister and members of the SEB on 30 March to discuss their concerns.

The final formal offer was made on 31 March, which the NEU says shows that the government did not listen to the issues raised.

Adrian Moss from NEU Jersey says: "Teachers have seen a significant drop in their pay over the last 14 years compared to RPI and no changes to terms and conditions which would bring them to parity with other public sector groups.

"We are not even fighting for an above inflation pay increase, though this would recognise the value of our profession and enable us to attract the most skilled educators: what we are fighting for is to keep pay at a level which matches inflation."

The SEB has responded to the threat of industrial action, stating that the Board is "very disappointed that they received notification of the rejection through a press release.

"The threat of industrial action is unhelpful, and we maintain channels for further discussions in good faith."

The Board will meet next week to discuss the rejection.

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