Members of Wales’ largest teaching union have voted to approve a new pay offer.
73% of the National Education Union’s (NEU) members accepted the pay offer put forward by the Welsh government, bringing the dispute to an end.
Teaching unions in England have paused industrial action for “intensive” talks over conditions, pay and workload.
The Welsh government’s offer sees an additional payment of 3% to teachers for the 2022/23 academic year.
This includes 1.5% consolidated pay rise and 1.5% paid as a one-off lump sum.
The offer also includes a pay rise of 5% which will be paid from September 2023.
NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said: “The members in Wales have made a clear decision to accept the pay offer, put forward by the minister in a letter dated 9 March.
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“We would like to thank the Welsh government for the constructive way in which they have conducted negotiations with the union, and we look forward to a productive working relationship to ensure that the rest of the deal, focused on workload, continues to make good progress.
“Whilst this doesn’t meet our ambitions for pay restitution every part of this offer is due to our members’ efforts – and we will continue campaigning for the governments in Cardiff and Westminster to invest properly in this generation of children and the staff who work with them.”
David Evans, Wales secretary for NEU Cymru added: “This has been a difficult time for everyone in education. Our members do not take decisions to go on strike lightly, but they had to make a stand given the continuing impact of austerity, cost of living and spiralling inflation. We would like to thank all the parents who supported teachers and support staff in the action taken.
“We remain disappointed that the minister made no offer to teaching assistants, but we know that we have raised the profile of the critical issues which affect everyone in education. Our National Executive will be considering next steps in our support staff pay campaign.”
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Jeremy Miles, the Welsh government’s education minister said: “I’m pleased that NEU members have voted to accept the enhanced pay offer. This is good news for pupils, parents and teachers.
“I want to thank unions and local authorities for engaging positively in the negotiations. I look forward to working together on workload-related issues.”
