Northern Ireland Teachers’ Unions to Ballot on Industrial Action

Unions representing the majority of educators in Northern Ireland are preparing to ballot their members regarding strike action. The NASUWT, INTO, and UTU have indicated they are initiating this vote due to the absence of “a satisfactory pay offer for 2024-25”. Additionally, the NEU, a fourth teaching union in Northern Ireland, intends to survey its members on whether to proceed with a formal ballot for industrial action. The education minister stated that he received the unions’ notification of their intent to ballot members on strike action “with disappointment”, further emphasizing that any forthcoming pay award must be “affordable”. Separately, health unions recently raised the prospect of strikes concerning pay. This pay dispute could also broaden to include the Northern Ireland Civil Service. BBC News NI has reviewed an excerpt from an executive document that underpinned Monday’s budget reallocation, known as a monitoring round. It indicates that there are only sufficient funds to provide civil servants with a 3% pay increase for 2024/25. The document further notes that trade unions have already communicated that such an award would not be deemed acceptable. It also includes a warning that a 3% offer would be “particularly difficult to defend if awards to other pay groups are materially higher”. Furthermore, the executive document observes that civil service pay guidelines in Great Britain permit “an average pay award of up to 5%” in that region. In September, teachers in England were granted a 5.5% pay increase for 2024-25 by the government. This was supported by an additional £1.2bn provided by the UK government. Even though the 2024-25 financial year is now past its midpoint, no pay agreement for teachers in Northern Ireland has been finalized. Northern Ireland’s teaching unions did accept a prior pay settlement in March 2024; however, this agreement was backdated, addressing the years from 2021 to 2024. A deadlock concerning a pay increase for teachers had persisted for three years amidst rising inflation, resulting in strikes and other forms of industrial action. In a collective statement, the NASUWT, INTO, UTU, and NEU affirmed that they had communicated clearly to Education Minister Paul Givan that “he needs to make a satisfactory offer on pay”. Mark McTaggart of the INTO stated that educators in Northern Ireland are “once again the least well paid across these islands.” He asserted, “Teachers have a right to receive a salary that truly reflects their value to society.” McTaggart added, “The continued failure by those who hold the purse strings to provide this has the potential to have a devastating effect on the life chances of the children and young people in their care.” Concurrently, Justin McCamphill of the NASUWT remarked that inflation “has not gone away.” He further commented, “Teachers in Northern Ireland have watched since the summer as their counterparts in the rest of the UK have received significant pay increases for this academic year and are telling us that they are fed up with being left behind.” Jacquie White from the UTU indicated that the absence of advancement regarding pay was a source of “grave concern.” She observed, “For too long the profession here seems to have been downgraded.” White also noted, “Indeed it took years of campaigning and eventually strike action before our teachers received a pay deal which put them in line with their colleagues in GB.” Pauline Buchanan of the NEU stated that teachers have discovered “themselves once again as the lowest paid members of the profession across these islands.” The Department of Education (DE) was allocated an additional £171m during the recent Executive monitoring round, a process where funds are re-distributed among departments. With a budget approaching £3bn, education holds the second-largest departmental budget at Stormont, surpassed only by Health. However, departmental officials recently informed MLAs that they are confronting a £190m shortfall to cover “inescapable pressures,” which encompass the increasing expenses of operating schools, providing support for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), and financing a pay agreement for teachers. Education Minister Paul Givan mentioned he is “currently considering the implications of the additional financial allocation” received by his department in the October monitoring round. He expressed his hope that an agreement on teachers’ pay for 2021-24, finalized in March, would “allow us to increase stability and work together to improve the educational experience of our children”. Givan reiterated that any proposed award for teachers must be “affordable,” noting that this objective was “difficult given the current financial pressures.” He affirmed his commitment to continue efforts to find a resolution. In related news, it has come to light that unions representing NI Water employees are currently balloting their members concerning industrial action. The GMB and Unite unions informed the Nolan Show that they are conducting these ballots due to a “failure” to address a 2023/24 pay award consistent with that of other public sector employees. Both of these ballots are scheduled to conclude during the first week of December.