FOUR teaching unions in Northern Ireland are calling for a pay increase of 12 per cent ahead of a half-day strike next week.
Most teachers in the north are set to take part in the walkout on Tuesday with members of the MASUWT, INTO, UTU and NEU unions set to gather at picket lines amid the continuing row over pay and conditions.
It is expected that many schools will close until midday, as most teachers in the north are represented by the four unions.
Unions have already been taking part in coordinated action short of strike in schools, which has affected meeting attendance and administrative tasks.
Ahead of the walkout, the unions have issued a joint statement calling for a "fully funded pay increase of 12 per cent for 2022-23".
Justin McCamphill from the NASUWT said they have "been left with no choice but to take strike action as a result of the failure of the education employers to offer any improvement on the miserly two year proposal made last February".
"At a time when teachers are facing the biggest squeeze on their finances in a generation, offering what amounts to a further real-terms pay cut is simply not good enough," he said.
INTO Northern Secretary Gerry Murphy said teachers had been "backed into a corner by an absent government at Stormont and a series of incompetent ones at Westminster".
"This strike signals that they are no longer prepared to endure falling living standards and ever-increasing workloads," he said.
"The teachers’ unions, collectively, are determined to see a fair pay rise delivered for all their members."
Jacquie White of the UTU added that it was "an unprecedented move" and was "a reflection of the strength of feeling of our members in the face of the derisory offers".
"The education of our children is the future of our society and it is a sad reflection on the priorities of decision-makers when those who are tasked to deliver that future are left to face spiralling cost of living costs and deteriorating working conditions with no resolution," she said.
Mark Langhammer from the National Education Union (NEU) said: "We know that billions can be found - and lost - in the interests of a bigger political agenda, but not only do the workers not benefit from these choices, they often suffer greatly as a result.
"The money is there, we just need the right political priorities."
