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Wales teacher strikes: No extra money, says minister

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The NEU says the latest offer falls short of its members "expectations and needs"

The Welsh government is "not bluffing" when it says there is no extra money to offer to striking teachers, according to a minister.

Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters said he does not believe the government can go further than its most recent offer.

Teachers are set to strike again next month.

The National Education Union said the offer falls "short of members' expectations and needs".

NEU members are planning to strike on 2, 15 and 16 March after rejecting the offer of an extra 1.5% pay rise, plus a 1.5% one-off payment.

Asked on the BBC Walescast podcast whether the government could go further again on pay, Mr Waters replied: "I don't believe we can.

"But let's let Jeremy [Miles, the education minister] worry about that when I've got enough on my plate."

'We are doing our best'

He added: "We are doing are best to try and address the wider issues that teachers complain about, because it's not just about pay.

"It is about workload, it is about stress, it is about other things.

"It's a tough job being a teacher and they are vital to us. So, we really want to try and find something which makes them want to come back to the table and to agree a deal."

Lee Waters
Lee Waters said the government "are doing our best" to address teachers' concerns

In order to make the fresh 3% pay offer to teachers and NHS staff, the Welsh government has used money held in reserve for emergencies.

Mr Waters said it was "a very risky decision and one we've taken with our eyes open because we really didn't think we had a choice."

He continued: "But it's a pretty perilous one.

"If something bad were to happen, if we have major flooding, if we have another pandemic. We don't have money in the Welsh budget for that now.

'Invidious choices'

"Because we've bent over backwards to try and reach a settlement with the train drivers, which we've succeeded to do successfully in Wales through social partnership, in a way they haven't in England, with the NHS workers, and we're trying very hard with the teachers.

"We've said all along we completely understand where they are coming from and they deserve a pay rise.

"But we as a devolved government do not have the resources to go beyond what we already have.

"And it's really difficult, it's really difficult, because we are having to make some invidious choices which none of us want to make."