Received from: National Education Union
Most workers in Britain are facing real terms pay cuts that add to the cost-of-living crisis, fuelling rises in child poverty, homelessness, food and fuel poverty.
Congress notes that:
i. 9 million children were living in poverty in the UK in 2020–21. This is some 27 per cent of children, or eight in a classroom of 30.
ii. Half of all children in lone parent families were in poverty as we entered the pandemic.
iii. Almost half of children from Black and minority ethnic groups are in poverty
iv. Educational outcomes for children living in poverty remain consistently lower, and this gap has widened through the pandemic.
Government-imposed limits on pay offers of five per cent or less, while inflation is rising well above 10 per cent constitute real-terms pay cuts. Rising energy and fuel costs at a time when the profits of energy companies are at their highest ever level, are the most significant contributor to rising inflation and impact on production and transport costs of all consumer goods.
Congress resolves to:
a. campaign for the government to fund free school meals for every child in primary school
b. campaign for urgent measures to eradicate child poverty through higher incomes and proper living standards
c. coordinate a campaign of industrial action across the public and private sector to win pay rises and improve standards of living.
Congress calls for solidarity actions with workers who have to strike to defend pay, pensions, jobs and standards for themselves and the wider public, including joining picket lines to publicly show support for workers in dispute.
National Education Union