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What if I am eligible to vote but have not received a ballot paper?

Call the ballot hotline on 020 7380 6300 (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm) or email action@nut.org.uk

For more information on the ballot, including an FAQ document and reasons to vote YES, visit our website at www.teachers.org.uk/protect-teachers where you will also find more details on our joint declaration with the NASUWT.

Joint declaration

The NUT and NASUWT have signed a historic agreement to campaign together to protect teachers and defend education against continued attacks on the profession by the coalition Government.

The decision to work together came about because the sustained attacks by the Government on teachers’ working conditions, pensions, pay, conditions of service and the threat to jobs are now so severe that the NUT and NASUWT believe joint, coordinated action is essential.

Christine Blower said: “Since coming to power the Government has sought to undermine teachers.

“Occasionally saying we have the best generation of teachers we’ve ever had in no way compensates for the onslaught of attacks and threats to pay, pensions and working conditions.”

• Read NUT members’ stories of how the Government’s attacks are affecting them in the tabloid newspaper enclosed in this edition of The Teacher.

Pensions are vital part of campaign to defend education

The NUT’s pensions campaign has entered a new phase with the joint declaration between the NUT and NASUWT to act together to protect teachers and defend education.

The NUT is not seeking a new ballot on pensions. We will use our existing mandate from members to take the campaign forward.

Campaigning on pensions is vital. Teachers aged 34 or less will have to work to age 68 for a full pension, and new graduates could be working into their mid-70s.

The NUT thinks that 68 is too late to retire. Teachers should be able to retire at an age where we can enjoy our retirement. We continue to campaign for Fair Pensions for All because everyone has a right to dignity in retirement.

Pension contributions went up in April – meaning an extra £29 a month after tax for a teacher on the top of the upper pay scale in England and Wales, and £48 a month in Inner London. This is an actual pay cut, given that teachers’ wages are frozen. There will be more contribution rises in April 2013 and 2014.

The NUT’s new pay/pension loss calculator at www.teachers.org.uk/files/pay-loss-calculator-june-2012-protected.xls shows the impact of pension contribution rises and inflation on your income. We estimate that teachers’ pay will be cut against inflation by over 10 per cent between 2010 and 2014. This serious attack on living standards shows the importance of widening our campaign.

For more information…

… go to www.teachers.org.uk/pensions  It’s vital we secure decent teachers’ pensions and fair pensions for all.