The NAHT heads’ union is set to ballot members over possible strike action for the first time, Schools Week reports.
The NAHT – whose members are largely in primary schools – said they would conduct the ballot over pay and school funding following a consultation with heads and school leaders.
It will be the union’s first ballot on pay in its 125-year history.
General secretary Paul Whiteman has written to the secretary of state for education Kit Malthouse to tell him that the union and the department are “now officially in dispute”.
The announcement follows the NEU and the NASUWT teaching unions who have both announced their intention to ballot members over industrial action.
Speaking today at the Trades Union Congress conference in Brighton, Paul Whiteman added: “This is not a situation the dedicated and caring professionals I represent can put up with any longer. Their primary concern is the education and wellbeing of the pupils, and staff in their schools. They are telling me very clearly that they feel unable to continue to operate under these circumstances.
“No school leader would ever take any industrial action lightly, but they are telling me they feel compelled to fight for the futures of the children and young people in their care. It is no exaggeration to say that the future of education is on the line.”
Mr Whiteman said school leaders’ salaries had lost 24 per cent of their value in real terms since 2010, and warned heads were “feeling demoralised and undervalued”.