Schools in Northern Ireland are likely to face further disruption in the New Year after teachers voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action unless their pay claim is settled.
Members in all five main unions have been balloted on industrial action, with teachers asking for a pay rise of 13.5% on the back of a settlement agreed with the Department earlier this year which brought to an end two years of industrial action.
Last month he Education Minister said there was no money available to meet demands for a pay settlement for the 2024/25 year.
Now members of the Ulster Teachers’ Union and INTO have voted to begin “a co-ordinated campaign of industrial action short of strike in the new year with a view to full strike action unless our employers bring forward a realistic pay offer.”
Jacquie White, General Secretary of the UTU added: “Even early indications in this ballot held over the last three weeks showed that teachers here are no longer prepared to be the lowest paid of their profession in the UK and Ireland.
“Sadly there’s been a marked lack of progress on pay negotiations for 2024-25 and teachers are simply not prepared to put up with this.
“Why should we accept salaries which are less than our counterparts in England or Scotland when we’re doing exactly the same job?” she asked.
“Last year’s pay deal was hard-fought and forced our members to take a stance on striking, though many were reluctant to do so but when children’s education is suffering then something has to be done.
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“Now that teachers’ pay elsewhere in GB has risen we again find ourselves at the back of line in the profession’s pay league.”
Ms White said that teachers are continuing to be enticed away to countries where better pay and conditions are on offer.
“Countries as far afield as Australia and Dubai are flocking to teaching recruitment fairs here offering lucrative contracts which a growing number of teachers are accepting,” she said.
“The Minister has announced some laudable and welcome schemes in the last few weeks but it is teachers who are at the very heart of our education system.
“If schools can’t fill core subject teaching jobs because teachers are being attracted elsewhere by better pay and conditions it rather negates anything else.
“We are losing the next generation of teachers and that can only impact negatively on our children.
“We urge the Minister to address this issue as a matter of priority, restore the pay to fair and equitable levels, and allow us to move forward.”
INTO’s Northern Secretary, Mark McTaggart said the message from teachers has to be heard.
“Of course, industrial action is always a last resort in these circumstances but it is clear that our members feel they are left with no option,” he said.
“I am putting the challenge out to the management that if they want to avoid this situation from escalating then they need to get into a serious negotiation now.”
Other unions are expected to back a new wave of industrial action.
The pay deal agreed earlier this year only brought teachers up to a level agreed years before, with Minister Paul Givan warning that “in line with the requirements of public sector pay policy, any proposals for a teachers pay award must be affordable,” and said that the current pay demands from teachers are “substantially higher“ than the 5.5% pay deal agreed in England.
“This is proving difficult to resolve given the pressures that are already faced within the education budget.”
Mr Givan said his department was £20m short of meeting a figure for settlement in line with what has already been agreed in England, an agreement funded by an additional £1.2bn from the UK government.
“It is simply impossible if members believe that this department can deliver a 13.5% pay rise this year,” Mr Givan told the NI Assembly.
“That is not achievable.”
News Catch Up: Monday 16th December