Northern Ireland teachers agree new pay deal to end dispute

Teachers have backed a pay deal from the Department of Education (DE), bringing an end to a long-running dispute over salary and workloads.

Members of all five teaching unions voted in favour of settling the dispute.

Teachers will each get thousands of pounds in pay backdated until September 2017 under the deal.

They will receive a backdated 2.25% pay rise for 2017-18 and a further 2% for 2018-19.

For example, a teacher currently earning £37,870 will receive a pay rise to £39,498 plus back pay to 1 September 2017 of about £3,700, which will be paid as a lump sum this summer.

The pay settlement will cost the Department of Education around £67m.

Changing workloads and inspections

Negotiations on teachers pay for 2019-20 and 2020-21 can also now begin.

The dispute has seen some teaching unions take strike action and also widespread action short of strike, including a boycott of school inspections.

A number of reforms to workloads and inspections are also part of the deal.

The Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC) represents all five unions - the NASUWT, INTO, UTU, NEU and NAHT.

It is chaired by Gerry Murphy from INTO.

In a statement, Mr Murphy said that the deal "breaks the public sector pay cap and delivers a level of pay which is line with colleagues in the rest of the UK for the same pay periods".

“The NITC will now begin the process of submitting a pay claim for 2019-20 and 2020-21, which addressed the losses against inflation and which will be benchmarked against neighbouring jurisdictions.

“This agreement delivers contractual protections to teachers from excessive workload now.

"The NITC will be working with the employers to ensure that the new working arrangements are in place in all schools from September."

'A major step forward'

The unions said they would continue to work together in the interests of teachers and principals.

The NASUWT's Justin McCamphill called the agreement a "major step forward".

“This agreement provides the opportunity to improve the working conditions of teachers now and in the coming years," he said.

The general secretary of the UTU Jacquie White said the deal had been "hard fought, long awaited and is well deserved".

Meanwhile, Mark Langhammer of the NEU claimed that the settlement would "transform" the education system.

"It is clear that the low-trust, low-discretion, target-driven cultures that motivated extended industrial action must change," he said.

The NAHT said that their members had voted "overwhelmingly in acceptance" for the deal and as a result their industrial action would end immediately.