Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Economics, government & businessPay settlementsOpinion

Teachers’ pay deal gives unions room for manoeuvre

by Mike Berry 22 Jan 2008
by Mike Berry 22 Jan 2008

What are we to make of schools secretary Ed Balls’ announcement that teachers will receive a 2.45% pay rise this year?

The award is the first of the government’s controversial three-year pay deals, and jars with prime minister Gordon Brown’s insistence that all public sector awards – including those for MPs – would be pegged at 2%.

The government has incurred the wrath of police officers by not backdating their pay deal, and last year, nurses and other NHS workers grudgingly accepted a staged pay rise. Teachers’ unions are complaining that this deal will reduce living standards for their members and lead to more retention problems.

So what does all this mean? That teachers are more valuable than police officers and nurses? That the government will now acquiesce with the recommendations of the various salary review bodies?

What the teachers’ deal does show is that there is some room for manoeuvre for unions. It might not be the 6% deal that Unison is demanding for local government workers, or the 4% rise wanted for civil servants, but there is a little flexibility in the system. Going forward, this might make the lives of public sector HR directors a little less stressful than they might have been.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

What is apparent is that the government is rapidly diminishing any goodwill towards it that is left among public sector workers. People don’t become teachers, nurses or police officers for the money they do so because they feel it’s a vocation, and they are doing work that helps others. But they still need to pay the bills and afford to live.

Plus, every one of these disgruntled workers in the public sector – up to six million of them – is a potential voter. When fixing pay levels for the next three years, the government would do well to remember that.

Mike Berry

previous post
Training at NHS Trust delivered via MP3 player
next post
Woolworths HR director to take over at Compass Group

You may also like

MPs demand Home Office tightens visas to protect...

4 Jul 2025

Living wage pushes up spring pay settlements

2 Jul 2025

Government publishes ‘roadmap’ for Employment Rights Bill

2 Jul 2025

Why bosses must set pay independently

2 Jul 2025

Fall in entry-level jobs linked to rise of...

30 Jun 2025

Bank of England says NIC rise is dampening...

27 Jun 2025

Bioethanol plant closure could lead to 4,000 job...

26 Jun 2025

When will the Employment Rights Bill become law?

26 Jun 2025

Pay awards remain ‘cautious’ in uncertain economy

25 Jun 2025

Skills receive £1.2bn boost in new industrial strategy

23 Jun 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+