A SECOND teaching union looks set to announce strike action as teachers facing “dystopian” levels of work-related stress look to up the pressure on the Tories this Easter weekend.

NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach warned his members “can’t go on much longer” without reforms to their pay and conditions ahead of the union’s annual conference.

He accused the government of ushering in an era where “teaching is no longer a sustainable way to make a living” ahead of the union announcing the results of its consultative ballot on possible strike action this weekend.

It comes after the National Education Union (NEU) today announced an overwhelming majority of members in England and Wales voted in support of strike action in an indicative ballot to secure an above-inflation pay rise and further funding for staffing.

Dr Roach said only one in 10 teachers report their workload is manageable, four in 10 are working more than 50 hours a week and nearly 90 per cent are worried about their financial situation, with more than a fifth struggling to afford their pensions.

“This government has ushered in an era where teaching is no longer a sustainable way to make a living and build a career,” he said.

“Forty thousand teachers left the profession last year — almost 9 per cent of the workforce — 73 per cent have considered leaving their current job, citing pay as a significant factor.

“Schools cannot function without teachers, and children cannot thrive without the care and expertise of their teachers, yet we face having too few teachers left. 

“The Department for Education says it wants to build a world-class education system. That will require world-class working conditions for teachers. Our members will keep demanding a better deal for as long as it takes.” 

NASUWT has been consulting its members in recent weeks to gauge whether they would be interested in taking industrial action on pay, workload, working hours and well-being.

A poll by the union of more than 7,000 members in England between January and March, suggests nearly three in four have seriously considered leaving their job in the past year.

Among those who considered leaving, half cited pay as a “significant factor” in their decision.

Nearly nine in 10 NASUWT members surveyed said they were worried about their current financial situation.

More than one in four said they have had to increase their use of credit or apply for a payday loan in the last 12 months, and one in nine have had to take a second job, the research found.

More than half of NEU teacher members in state schools and sixth forms in England and Wales took part in the preliminary electronic ballot by Britain’s largest education union.

The NEU’s premliminary ballot, which launched on March 2 and closed on Thursday, saw more than half of members in state schools and sixth forms in England and Wales take part.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “This is an indicative, and not a formal ballot.

“But the facts speak for themselves; over half of our members voted in the ballot and overwhelmingly supported a move to a formal ballot to secure a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise which constitutes a meaningful step towards pay restoration.

“The result demonstrates the mass discontent within our profession to which the government should take notice.

“Urgent steps are required to tackle the crisis in education and our members know this.

“Our annual conference gathers in Bournemouth next week and delegates will determine the next steps in our pay and funding campaign.”

The union said it will consider next steps at a special executive meeting on Tuesday.

Any appropriate recommendations will be put to the union’s annual conference in Bournemouth next week and voted on by delegates in the subsequent days.

Ofsted was branded "inadequate" in the wake of headteacher Ruth Perry's suicide.

Debating a motion on mental health inspections, delegate Richard Kempa told the conference it was a July 2019 report by the schools regulator that found the teaching profession suffered the highest rates of work related stress, depression and anxiety in Britain."

He was applauded as he continued: "I think it's appropriate based on this evidence to use a single world judgement... inadequate."

The Department for Education said the independent School Teachers Review Body is considering evidence for this year’s pay award and advised unions to engage with this process instead of striking before they know what the pay recommendations are.