UPS teachers - move school and see pay cut by £10,000

Discussions at the NUT National Executive over the last two days have confirmed that, from September 2013 onwards, with the abandonment of 'portability' of pay points from one school to the next, Upper Pay Spine teachers would have no guarantee of keeping that Upper Pay Spine status when they move to a new school.

Yes, not only might a UPS3 teacher be forced down to the bottom of the UPS, they might be forced all the way down to the Main Scale in a 'race to the bottom' to compete with other applicants for the lower pay-rate that a cash-strapped school might only be prepared to offer.

That means that a teacher resigning to take a new post this Christmas could be facing a pay cut of around £10,000 - depending on the decision taken by their new employer. For example, a UPS3 teacher in Inner London - earning £45,000 could be demoted to M6, the top of the Main Scale - and be paid only £36,387 - but they might even have to accept less than that!

This threat is spelt out in the wording of the new Draft Pay and Conditions Document which makes crystal clear that:
20.1 Any qualified teacher may apply to be paid on the upper pay range.

but that

20.5 Any decision made under paragraph 20 applies only to employment in that same school  

This is yet another reason why teachers need to be taking strike action to oppose these attacks. That's also why teachers gathered outside NUT HQ, Hamilton House, in Euston last night to talk to National Executive members and to encourage them to vote for a programme of strike action to oppose Gove's performance-pay proposals. Delegated teachers came from as far as Bristol and Liverpool with their NUT Association banners.

The decisions reached by the NUT Executive at today's meeting are, at present, subject to an embargo. Look out for further news.