UK government seeks to turn tide on strikes in 'intensive talks' with teachers

Junior doctors could meet the Health Secretary as early as Friday afternoon, union representative says

A protester at a rally by striking teachers in Trafalgar Square, London. Getty

The UK government is seeking to instigate a turning point in mass strikes as it agrees to “intensive talks” with teaching unions following a major breakthrough with healthcare representatives.

Ministers are focusing on averting further strikes among teachers and junior doctors after a pay deal was agreed with unions representing nurses, ambulance workers and other National Health Service staff. The pact, announced on Thursday, will see strike action suspended while members take part in a vote.

Downing Street said the deal is worth £4 billion ($4.83 billion) and consists of three elements. The package includes two non-consolidated lump sums comprising 2 per cent of the current year’s salary and a backlog bonus of at least £1,250 per person. In addition, staff will be given a 5 per cent consolidated pay increase for 2023/24.

“The non-consolidated element for 2022/23 is an additional investment of around £2.7 billion,” a spokesman for No 10 Downing Street told reporters. “The consolidated element for 2023/24 is an additional investment of around £1.3 billion”.

In a joint statement from the Conservative government and teaching unions on Friday, they said they had agreed to hold “intensive talks” on the issues which have led to walkouts in recent months.

Hope of a turnaround in junior doctors' strikes was also offered by a member of the British Medical Association (BMA) who said representatives could meet Health Secretary Steve Barclay as soon as Friday afternoon to discuss a pay rise.

Pay, conditions and workload reduction will be discussed in meetings which will bring together unions including the National Education Union (NEU), whose members were on strike in England earlier this week. Striking teachers who took part in a protest in central London told The National that parents would be shocked if they knew about the dire state of education. They said they were “fed up” over a lack of funding, which forces schools to choose between buying essential supplies and hiring much-needed new staff.

No 10 and teaching unions said they hoped to “reach a successful conclusion” from the discussions.

Further walkouts planned by the NEU will be paused for the next two weeks.

“The Education Secretary and all unions will meet today, beginning intensive talks, which will continue over the weekend,” the joint statement added, referring to Gillian Keegan.

Ms Keegan and her cabinet colleagues have in recent months come under growing pressure to resolve disputes with striking workers which have caused major disruption to the public.

Teachers, university lecturers, nurses, junior doctors, civil servants, train drivers and Border Force Agents have staged mass strikes in what has been the worst industrial action since the 1980s.

Teachers in the UK go on strike — in pictures

Amid hope that strikes by nurses and teachers could be in the past, the government will be keen to also strike a deal with junior doctors.

Mr Barclay has urged junior doctors to follow the example of other health unions, who on Thursday agreed to recommend a pay deal to NHS staff.

“We have offered the same terms to the junior doctors that were accepted by the other trade unions and that is what I hope the junior doctors will respond to,” Mr Barclay said.

Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he hopes talks with the Health Secretary can begin soon.

The union is demanding “pay restoration” for junior doctors, who often have many years of experience. It says their pay has fallen in real terms by 26 per cent since 2008/09 and reversing this would require a 35.3 per cent pay rise.

“Our position has been that we are open to talk in good faith, meaningfully, at any time,” Dr Trivedi said. “We were ready to talk months ago. Our formal dispute started over 150 days ago and, again, that is just what I mean in that it is disappointing it has taken Steve Barclay so long to get to the negotiating table.

“I only hope that he does come with good faith and a mandate to negotiate.

“So far we haven’t arranged a time for this afternoon but there has been some correspondence between our offices so it does look like we’ll be able to set something up in the near future.”

The deal agreed by the government and unions for NHS staff on Thursday includes a one-off lump sum for nurses in 2022/23, which rises in value up the NHS pay bands, as well as a permanent 5 per cent rise on all pay points for 2023/24.