NI Education: Teachers in NI to strike on 18 January

Teachers and school staff have already been on strike this year in a long-running dispute

Teachers in Northern Ireland are to strike early next year in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

The main teaching unions, including headteachers, said their members would strike on 18 January.

It follows a full-day walkout in April and a half-day action on 29 November.

The industrial action taken by teaching unions has been mainly due to a pay dispute, with a stalemate over a deal running for more than a year.

In a statement issued on behalf of the Department of Education and Education Authority, they said they "recognise the frustration of teachers and school leaders over the ongoing absence of a pay offer".

"It is regrettable that, due to an inadequate education budget, it has not been possible for the teachers to be offered a pay award," the statement from Management Side of the Teachers' Negotiating Committee continued.

Management Side comprises representatives of all the education employing authorities, sectoral bodies and the department.

Who is striking?

The Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC) has confirmed the strike will involve:

• The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT),

• Ulster Teachers Union (UTU)

• National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)

• National Education Union (NEU)

• Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) unions

The NITC said that "to date no pay offer has been made in relation to teachers' pay, and no talks around same have been tabled".

"Almost unbelievably we are entering 2024 with no resolution to this issue since 2020 and it's now accepted at all levels that teachers' pay needs to be addressed," Jacquie White, general secretary of the UTU, said.

'Pawns in a political game'

Justin McCamphill of the NASUWT said "every day that passes without a decent pay offer increases the anger felt by teachers".

"Teachers should not be pawns in a political game," he added.

Pauline Buchanan and Mark Langhammer, joint regional secretaries of NEU said the Independent Review of Education "confirmed that our education system has been grossly under-funded for years".

They said teachers' pay was "falling behind and strike action is the inevitable consequence".

Mark McTaggart of INTO demanded "that the necessary funding is immediately released to resolve the issue of teachers' pay".

"A just pay solution cannot be dependent on the action or inaction of any politician or political party."

Schools have already been disrupted by previous industrial action

Liam McGuckin, NAHT's Northern Ireland president, said that "failure to address teacher and school leader pay" or "make any progress on the clearly understood workload issues" had led to this situation.

Teachers in Northern Ireland have not had a pay increase for almost three years.

Many teachers in England, Scotland and Wales now earn thousands of pounds more than their counterparts in Northern Ireland at the same grade.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has been engaged in talks with Stormont's largest parties this week about the restoration of the executive, with a £2.5bn financial package on offer from the government.

This would include provision for public sector pay increases.

But with the current plan to seal a Stormont deal not expected to happen before Christmas, it is unclear if a pay figure can be proposed.