Northern Ireland

Union to outline action after pay talks walkout

Mark Langhammer
Mark Langhammer Mark Langhammer

Teachers are considering lunchtime protests and a refusal to set or mark homework in response to the breakdown of pay talks.

Unions are also warning of strike action after rejecting an offer that would see teachers receive no pay rise for 2015/16, and a 1 per cent cost of living uplift for 2016/17.

Classroom staff in England and Wales have seen their wages rise by 1 per cent for 2015/16 and have agreed a further 1 per cent for 2016/17. In addition, non-teaching staff in Northern Ireland have received a pay increase.

In a letter to members, Association of Teachers and Lecturers director Mark Langhammer said details of industrial action would be made known within days.

Mr Langhammer wrote following the breakdown of pay negotiations, saying it was "unusual for teachers to receive a letter of this type directly".

For the past year, he said, ATL had sought to negotiate on members' behalf within a testing budgetary environment.

"ATL fully understand that taking any industrial action runs against the grain of teachers' innate professionalism. As such, ATL will extend its industrial action - currently a work to rule - in ways which follows several simple principles," Mr Langhammer said.

"Action that will not punish schools; action that will not punish pupils; and action that will have `traction' with teachers."

ATL will propose members refuse to embrace any new initiatives - this may include introduction of tablets, initiatives like Show My Homework, "or other risk-averse bureaucratic checking measures".

In addition, all future `inset' days be undertaken at home; in the first week of each half-term there will be no setting or marking homework and in all schools across Northern Ireland, at the same time and date, there should be a 15 minute lunchtime school gate protest on pay.

"ATL’s view is that going forward, to get through this impasse, teachers may need to take much more robust action than that which we propose," Mr Langhammer added.

"In short, we are where we are. ATL has not communicated the detail of pay negotiations widely amongst our membership as a running commentary could have undermined the integrity of negotiations. These negotiations, which ATL undertook in good faith, are now over.

"Finally, the message coming from educational employers is that the budgetary situation is dire. The employers state that their offer represents the best that can be achieved at this time. ATL believe that a decent cost-of-living increase is affordable.

"ATL estimate that a 1 per cent pay increase for teachers would cost no more than £6.4 million. So let us not obsess on the tightness of budgets. Funding is available for some things, but not others. ATL's job is to ensure funding for expenditure that makes a difference. That includes reasonable pay for the teaching profession."

Education minister Peter Weir said teachers were essential to the Northern Ireland education system.

"I greatly value the hard work they do. However, it is no secret that public expenditure is extremely tight, including in the education sector," Mr Weir said.

"Management side brought forward a package that was realistic and still allows teaching staff to progress along the pay scale, in addition to a cost of living increase. That offer was rejected outright by the unions as were, I understand, earlier and higher offers.

"Given the speed by which the teaching union’s statements have issued, I assume they had predetermined their response prior to the negotiations concluding. That is very disappointing."