Teachers in Northern Ireland are set to resume action short of strikes from Monday after failing to back a pay offer from the Education Minister.
A 5.5% offer was on the table after several weeks of negotiations, and unions had paused industrial action.
Unions has been seeking a 13.5% rise, on the back of a pay hike last year which ended three years of dispute over salary and conditions.
The offer would have matched a similar settlement in England last year.
But unions have now said that “following individual consultation with members by the constituent unions that make up the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council, NITC is not in a position to ratify an agreement” on the offer.
The news will be a major blow to Paul Givan, who had hoped to draw a line under the industrial action.
Mr Givan warned last week that there was no more money available in his budget to raise the offer.
A statement from NITC said: “All constituent members of NITC remain committed to engaging in further negotiations in an effort to reach clear and unrestricted pay award for teachers for 2024/25.”
Jacquie White, Ulster Teachers’ Union (UTU) General Secretary and chair of the NITC, said members raised concerns around the clarity of the offer.
“We do, however, remain committed to seeking a way forward which delivers resolution for our members,” she added.
Jacquie White, General Secretary of the Ulster Teachers’ Union and Chair of NITC
Ms White said that members will now be resuming action short of strike from Monday morning.
Mark McTaggart, INTO Northern Secretary and secretary of NITC, added: “Members and school leaders have informed us that they were unhappy with the perceived restrictions included in last week’s offer.
“It is disappointing that ongoing negotiations have failed to find an amicable resolution.”
He said INTO “remains committed to finding an uplift that is acceptable to our members”.
Justin McCamphill, NASUWT National Official and vice chair of NITC, said: “Our members have made clear that the offer as presented to them last week was not acceptable.
“Management side need to draft a pay offer which will meet the legitimate expectations of teachers, action short of strike action will commence on Monday.”
Some 78% of NASUWT members voted in favour of rejecting the offer, with 5,734 teachers participating in the survey, though Graham Gault, NAHT NI National Secretary, said his members had been supportive.
“While the membership of NAHT voted in favour of accepting the offer, the wider NITC position means that the offer has not been ratified by all unions and will, therefore, not be progressed in its current form,” he said.
“The NAHT will, therefore, engage fully with our own membership to consider our next steps while also remaining committed to working collectively with others to secure an offer that can be accepted by all parties.”
The offer from the employers said that schools needed “a prolonged period of stability free from industrial action and the threat of industrial action.”
It also asked teachers to accept that “industrial action should only be taken as a last resort in any dispute”.
Unions stressed this did not mean that teachers had to waive their right to strike in the future, but should “commit to a period free from industrial action in the context of the agreed future pay negotiation timeframes and implementation of the agreed work programme”.
The Management Side of the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee last night expressed disappointment that the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) had not ratified this year’s pay offer.
It said that it had made a substantial offer of a 5.5% cost of living increase for teachers from 1 September 2024, as well as “wide-ranging commitments on workload issues. A commitment to timeframes for future pay offers was also included”.
The employer also said that the pay offer would mean teachers’ salary scales excluding allowances range from £31,650 to £48,919 and would require an additional, £83m funding each year.
“It comes at a time of significant financial pressures in education and follows on from the April 2024 pay deal that raised the starting salary for teachers’ by almost 25%, and all other teachers pay by over 10%, at a cost of a further £170m each year,” they said.
Eve Bremner, Chair of the Management Side said: “It is extremely disappointing that the NITC have not ratified this offer and that the trade unions are proceeding with industrial action.
“We offered a substantial increase as teachers deserve fair pay, but we also wanted to ensure pupils have a sustained period free from industrial action, so the offer included a commitment to work with the trade unions to deliver over twenty measures addressing workload concerns.”
She called on unions to “cease their intended industrial action and bring forward proposals to resolve this dispute”.
News Catch Up – Thursday 6 February