Members of NASUWT - The Teachers’ Union will take strike action today over the failure to offer teachers and Further Education lecturers a fair and decent pay award.
The strike action follows a half day of strike action in schools in November and February last year and a full day of strike action in schools and FE colleges in April last year. The latest strike action is expected to close the vast majority of Northern Ireland’s schools.
This strike continues the NASUWT’s campaigning for a Better Deal for all teachers and lecturers.
The NASUWT is highlighting the massive pay disparity across the UK for teachers.
Damaging year-on-year pay cuts and the failure of salaries to keep pace with sky-high inflation have meant teachers, lecturers and principals have lost thousands of pounds since 2010.
For example, a teacher at the start of the classroom main pay scale M1 has lost £44,669, while a teacher at the top of the classroom main pay scale M6 has lost £65,288, and an experienced teacher at the top of the Upper Pay Scale UPS3 has lost £76,064.
According to NASUWT research, the last 13 years have seen cuts of 38% to teachers’ pay in real terms.
Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said:
“The situation regarding pay for our members simply cannot be allowed to continue.
“Teachers have not had a pay increase for three years while FE lecturer pay is even worse again. They have seen their pay slashed in real terms, yet all the while, the cost of living crisis deepens with members paying more and more just to get by. They are seeing housing, food, transport and fuel costs continue to rise while their pay remains the same.
“Our members cannot and must not be in a position where they must take industrial action to get the same basic rates of pay as colleagues elsewhere in the UK.
“We are calling on the government in Westminster to address the situation with urgency.”
Justin McCamphill, NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland, said:
“Members are yet again having to take strike action because they are opposed to continuing cuts to their pay and living standards. The working conditions of teachers must urgently be improved.
“Our members are not prepared to stand by while their pay packets shrink and their living costs rise. They have had enough and do not want to hear excuses.
“It cannot be justified that teachers in Northern Ireland continue to be paid significantly less that elsewhere in the UK
“The Department of Education and the Department for Economy, along with employers, must bring forward a substantially improved pay offer if they want to see an end to these disputes.”
