UK: Teachers' union says prepared to pause upcoming strike action if progress in talks over pay

The United Kingdom has been hit with strikes from several key sectors over pay and working conditions. A trade union representing teachers in the UK said it was prepared to pause its upcoming strike action should there be progress in the talks with the government over pay.

The National Education Union, representing teachers in the UK, said on Wednesday that it was ready to recommend pausing a planned strike next week if there was major progress in the talks to settle the dispute over pay. This follows the government’s announcement on Tuesday that they are willing to hold talks with the NEU to settle the dispute on the condition that the union would cancel next week’s strike action.

“We are prepared, should the negotiations make real progress to pause next week’s strikes. But the government has to show good faith. We ask ministers to drop its preconditions and to begin serious negotiations,” said NEU Joint General Secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney.

The NEU said it made a written commitment to the government that “if substantive progress can be made, we are prepared to recommend a pause to strikes next week to our National Executive Committee this Saturday.”

The union’s executive branch will be meeting on Saturday to make a decision on whether or not to cancel the strike if the government presents a “compelling” offer.

Meanwhile, the unions representing London’s Underground network and ambulance workers announced that they intend to take strike action next month. The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Fireman said on the same day that 99 percent of London Underground train drivers who participated in the ballot voted to take strike action in the dispute with the government over pensions and working arrangements.

The strike will take place on March 15, which is when the government is set to unveil its budget statement. The union said its members in other posts in the Underground would also walk out on the same day.

The Unison trade union that represents nurses, ambulance staff, blood collection workers, and healthcare assistants among thousands of workers under the National Health Service will take strike action on March 8.