Teachers to stage industrial action on Monday morning in Northern Ireland schools

Members of all five recognised teaching unions in Northern Ireland have voted in favour of strike action following a series of ballots over pay and conditions.

Monday morning’s industrial action stops short of a strike with no school closures expected, but unions have not ruled out a walkout if the dispute escalates.

There is a similar picture in Great Britain, where the NEU said 86% of its members who responded to an initial ballot said they were willing to strike. It is now launching a formal strike ballot.

The NASUWT union has also begun a formal ballot for members in Scotland, England and Wales.

The largest teaching union in Northern Ireland, the NASUWT, has been engaged in industrial action short of full strike action since the period before the summer holidays – and will now be joined by members of the other four recognised unions.

The NASUWT action has so far involved a refusal to invigilate public exams, take on any new initiatives, or submit lesson plans to senior management amongst a range of other steps.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the INTO trade union said the coming industrial action has been forced by “the failure of the employers and Department of Education (DE) to make an acceptable pay offer to INTO members for the 2021/22 year and their further failure to make any offer for the 2022/23 year.”

The union’s northern secretary, Gerry Murphy, said: “From 8am on Monday, October 17, INTO members in concert with their colleagues in the other four recognised teachers’ unions will begin a campaign of industrial action designed to bring the employers and the DE to the negotiating table. “INTO members will be taking action designed to focus the minds of the employers and DE on an issue they have been avoiding for too long.”

He continued: “Teachers across the north have been treated shamefully by the powers that be considering their service over the course of the pandemic when day after day they put their health and that of their

families at risk to keep the education system functioning.”