29/11/2016

Minister Urges Teachers To Call Off Strike

The Education Minister is urging teachers to call off a planned strike on Wednesday, 30 November.

Mr Peter Weir said the education sector is under "severe pressure".

The National Association of Schoolmasters and Women Teachers (NASUWT) is protesting over pay, workload and fears over job security.

Minister Weir said: "School leaders are struggling to cope with the sustained industrial action in schools since 2011. The escalation of this action, resulting in strike days, will severely harm the education of the children that we all seek to serve. Whilst I recognise most schools will remain open, some will be open to staff only. It will cause major disruption to parents and put further pressure on other teachers and leaders that are already struggling to cope in addition to damaging the reputation of teachers.

"The negotiations are over. The rejected two year pay deal is an increase of 2.61% to teacher’' pay. This includes a general 1% increase for 2016/17 plus automatic time served incremental salary progressions.

"A day of strike will only result in the loss of a day’s pay, effectively much of the 1% the unions are saying they are fighting for."

(CD)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

04 April 2023
NI Teachers Announce Strike Action For 26 April
Teachers from five teaching unions across NI have announced that they will take strike action on Wednesday 26 April, over the failure to offer teachers and Further Education lecturers a fair and decent pay award.
14 November 2024
Minister Reacts To Teachers' Union Ballot Threat
Education Minister Paul Givan has responded to the announcement by several teachers' unions that they plan to ballot their members for industrial action over 2024/25 pay. Earlier this year, the Minister provided funding to successfully resolve the long-running industrial dispute over teachers' pay for 2021-24.
02 April 2024
Education Minister Welcomes Progress On Teacher's Pay
Education Minister, Paul Givan, has welcomed further progress on a pay settlement for teachers following the Department of Finance's approval of the pay award. All five recognised teachers' unions (INTO, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU, UTU) have signalled their acceptance of the teachers' pay offer for 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24.
21 September 2011
O'Dowd Hits Back On Classroom Jobs
Fears over an apparent lack of job opportunities for newly qualified teachers have been in focus this week. It has been claimed that as many as 95% of new teachers are unable to secure full time jobs. That's according to a DUP MLA who underlined the claim when MLAs debated the concerns over the number of new teachers at Stormont.
02 February 2016
NASUWT Rejects Pay Offer
NI's largest teachers' union has rejected a pay offer for teachers and principals. The offer to the NASUWT was made by the management side of the Teachers Negotiating Committee (TNC). The offer continues the year-on-year cuts to teachers' pay. The NASUWT is calling for an across the board above inflation cost of living award.