Teachers’ union calls for a 8.3% pay rise in new year

The NASUWT has also requested wage increases of 3% above inflation in 2026 and 2027.

The union’s claim was submitted to the Policy & Resources Committee ahead of talks which look set to continue into the new year after time ran out to reach an agreement before the end of the current pay deal on 31 December.

NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said in the submission that the case for above-inflation rises had become ‘indisputable’ after more than a decade of what have been seen as unsatisfactory pay settlements locally.

‘Teachers’, lecturers’ and school leaders’ salaries have been eroded significantly, particularly when measured against increases in average earnings and RPI inflation since 2007,’ he said.

‘An analysis of the real terms gross pay for teachers, lecturers and school leaders shows losses of tens of thousands of pounds compared to what they would have earned had their pay kept pace with inflation.’

Deputy John Gollop, who is leading pay talks with unions representing more than 5,000 public sector workers, said earlier this week that ‘current financial challenges’ were influencing negotiations, but he still hoped a new deal could be finalised ‘in the next month or so’.

It was already known that health workers had asked the States for a pay rise of inflation plus 3% from January, although they would prefer a one-year deal. Civil servants are understood to have lodged a similar above-inflation claim.

The NASUWT has also joined health workers’ unions in asking the States for talks during 2025 on setting up a scheme under which States employees and their immediate family members could be assisted with the costs of GP visits and to consult them about key worker accommodation and financial help towards housing costs.

The pay agreement which ends on 31 December was imposed on teachers when an industrial tribunal ruled in favour of the deal offered by the States, which provided public sector workers with increases of 5% plus £500 in 2022, 7% last year, and 5.8% at the start of this year.

‘The feedback from members on the 2022-24 award was unequivocal,’ said Dr Roach, in the NASUWT’s latest submission to P&R.

‘Members were deeply unhappy with the quantum of the offer, believing it to be insufficient, given the cost-of-living pressures and the fact that the award did not meet the requirements of the NASUWT’s pay claim.

‘This was demonstrated by the successful ballot for industrial action, although no action was subsequently taken due to Guernsey’s archaic and repressive industrial relations legislation.

‘The employer should be in no doubt that the position of the NASUWT members with regards to pay has hardened since the last round of negotiations.’

The NASUWT added that teachers’ pay in Guernsey was significantly lower than in Jersey and had recently fallen behind the Isle of Man, as well as being uncompetitive with the UK after taking into account differences in the cost of living, which it said was making it ‘increasingly hard’ to recruit staff locally.

P&R has estimated that the States would run a deficit of £16m. next year, after one-off capital spending was taken into account, but that was before the Assembly left a hole of about £27m. in the 2025 budget when it rejected a temporary 2p increase in income tax.

However, the NASUWT’s pay claim pointed to previous years’ budget surpluses and positive economic indicators and argued that the States was able to fund ‘a substantial increase in pay’.