Unions warn over 'golden handcuffs'

Reports carry leaked details of teachers' pay deal

Teaching unions are concerned that reported "golden handcuff" bonuses of £5,000 a year to retain new recruits may be limited to London schools.

The three-year measures - expected to be part of a new pay deal for teachers - are likely to help only "tough schools" in London and the south east, where there are chronic staff shortages, it is claimed.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Sunday that the government planned to target resources at the "saints and heroes" working in inner-city schools.

New teachers in the London area benefiting from the bonuses could expect rises of between £2,000 and £5,000 a year for sticking to their jobs for the first two or three years, it has been reported.

But government aides have said the figures are "speculative".

More and more teachers are reaching breaking point and demanding ballots for action

Nigel de Gruchy, NASUWT,

While the National Association for Head Teachers (NAHT) cautiously welcomed the reports, other teaching unions warned that the idea would only scratch the surface of the problem.

NAHT president Mick Brookes said: "We also have hot spots all over the country where we are just not attracting teachers."

Leaked details of this year's pay deal for teachers show they will get a 3.5% increase in the basic rate of pay from April, according to the Sunday Times.

The rise will take teachers' salaries from an average £24,000 to £24,840.

Has Mr Blair done enough to stave off industrial action?

But Mr Brookes said pay rises were not the only solution to the current crisis of recruiting and retaining teaching staff.

"Teachers working 12 hours a day, 60 hours a week are simply leaving it and going to something less stressful," he said.

"We have to look at the conditions of service for teachers and head teachers and make sure the job is doable."

Mr Brookes said the threat of a four-day week in places such as Barnet and Essex would become a reality.

Industrial action

Mr Blair accepted there were shortages of teachers in inner-city areas because of high housing costs and the difficulty of the jobs.

But he played down the threat of a four-day week, saying only around half a dozen schools were considering this action.

"What we have to do is look at extra rewards for teachers teaching in really tough schools," he said.

"We have got to look at how we are improving the retention of these people by offering them the right package, not just in terms of pay but in better working conditions generally."

Nigel de Gruchy, general secretary of the teaching union NASUWT, said Mr Blair may not have done enough to stave off industrial action.

"I found the prime minister incredibly complacent about the teacher supply crisis," he said.

"It is not limited to London and in the capital it is far more serious than 'three or four schools thinking of going on a four-day week', as Tony Blair alleged.

"Most of the problems have been hidden from public view by teachers covering for vacancies and staff absences."

He said the national executive of the NASUWT had instructed its action committee to prepare plans for protective action such as refusing to cover for vacancies.