The NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union has formally notified school and college employers that it will take strike action on Thursday 18 January over the failure to offer teachers and Further Education lecturers a fair and decent pay award.

The NASUWT, along with other unions across the public sector, has been planning a mass day of action since December. The union had previously taken part in strike action in February, April and November 2023.

The union had hoped that Northern Ireland politicians and the UK government would have reached a political settlement by now which would have free up enough money to resolve all outstanding pay claims.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said:
 
“The pay situation for teachers and lecturers in Northern Ireland is now desperate. Teachers have not had a pay increase for three years while FE lecturer pay is even worse again. Our members shouldn’t be in the position where they must take industrial action to get the same basic rates of pay as colleagues elsewhere in the UK.”

“Given that the Secretary of State has identified £584 million to address public sector pay issues as part of a financial package for the return of a Northern Ireland Executive, it is scandalous that our members have been left with no other option than to take strike action to highlight the dire situation that they face.”

Justin McCamphill, NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland, said:
 
“Public Sector workers are fed up with being used as pawns in a political game by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and are demanding that they are paid the same as any other teacher in the UK. A Northern Ireland teacher is not worth less than an English or Scottish teacher.

“Those in Northern Ireland who are blocking the restoration of the Executive need to wake up to the calls of public sector workers who are struggling to make ends meet. Issues affecting Northern Ireland from the outworking of the Protocol must be dealt with within the agreed structures of government.”