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Jersey members of a teachers' union are being balloted for industrial action after what they describe as "years of real terms pay erosion" and "spiralling workloads".
The NASUWT's ballot – for both strike action and action short of strike action – opened on Monday 15 May to members of all Jersey government schools (including Highlands College), grant-aided colleges, and independent schools.
It will close on 12 June.
Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said the ballot was the result of "the failure of the States to address the years of real-terms pay erosion that teachers have suffered since 2008 or to address spiralling workloads."
According to the union, teachers in Jersey have suffered an 8.8% real-terms pay cut since 2008. They said the pay offer for the current academic year represented a real-terms pay cut of 2.5% when benchmarked against RPI in September 2022.
Dr Roach said that the current pay offer was "insufficient" given the "historic erosion of pay, the lack of competitiveness of teachers' salaries compared to other professions, and the acute recruitment and retention issues that Jersey schools are currently experiencing.
"Salaries are also increasingly uncompetitive compared with the UK, once the higher cost of living is taken into consideration."
The latest Retail Price Index Report showed that the cost of living rose by 12.7% over the 12 months to March 2023, the joint highest rise since 1980s.
Dr Roach added: "Pay has been eroded during a period when teachers have seen their workloads spiral upwards, a toxic combination which has left teachers feeling increasingly frustrated, demoralised and angry."
Though critical of the Government's level of engagement so far, Dr Roach added: "We remain open to further negotiations with the States, but in the absence of any action from ministers we have been left with no choice but to move to a ballot of members for potential future industrial action.”
Guernsey teachers were also in a long-running pay dispute with the island's government. However, the group ultimately lost their battle after the matter went to a tribunal.
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