Billed as the biggest industrial action in Northern Ireland for over a decade, the majority of schools closed across Northern Ireland on Wednesday as teachers and civil servants joined picket lines over pay and school budget cuts.
All five teaching unions in Northern Ireland joined the strike including, for the first time, the National Association of Head Teachers.
Members of NIPSA, the largest union in Northern Ireland, PCS, GMB and UNITE were also taking part, with disruptions including the ferry service between Strangford and Portaferry.
Before joining rallies at Belfast City Hall and the Millenium Forum in Derry, many teachers staged smaller picket lines outside schools as passing drivers showed their support.
Teachers, parents and pupils arriving for a major rally at Belfast City Hall as part of the biggest teaching strike in years. @irish_news pic.twitter.com/0egpuGYmPh
— Allan Preston (@AllanPreston) April 26, 2023
Seamus Hanna is principal of St Colmcille’s High School in Crossgar and a senior member of the INTO union.
Speaking outside St Malachy’s College in north Belfast, he said: “Teachers are tired and expected to do more for less. At the end of the day, the public have to realise it’s our children who are suffering, it’s not just teachers’ salaries that we’re protecting here.”
On a perception the public have more sympathy with health strikes than with teachers, he said: “I don’t believe that anybody is in competition in terms of the feelings of the public.
“They are looking at all services that they expect the government to provide, but everything is being cut from education, health, standards of living and hurting the poorest in society.”
Commenting on Twitter, one parent said: “My son’s special school is closed today because of the action and (in my humble opinion) these staff deserve everything they’re asking for.”
By 1pm, around 2,000 people including families, teachers and civil servants had gathered outside Belfast City Hall with placards and trade union flags.
Speaking in the crowd while holding his daughter on his shoulders, Rathmore teacher Peter McClenaghan (38) said it was wrong to assume teachers just wanted more money.
“The bottom line is that if you don’t invest in education you create more problems down the line,” he said.
“Do we value our healthcare and education workers or not? All these kids here today aren’t at school, but you want to give them the best opportunity and environment we can to make them flourish.”
Also attending with his two children, St Bride’s PS teacher Marty Cunningham (40) said: “I know everyone is experiencing the cost of living. But we are experiencing that alongside an increased workload.
“I have extortionate childcare bills, you spend most of your wage on that before anything else.”
He added: “I think parents know the work we put in, to be a teacher you have to be invested in kids. We put our heart and soul into the job, and it is a hard job.
“There’s a lot of things that people don’t see, the work outside those teaching hours is heavy.
“When you look at the pay difference between here and England, Scotland and Wales, it can be around £12,000 for doing the same job, it’s huge.”
Jane McConville is a primary teacher in east Belfast and member of the NASUWT Belfast Executive.
“We’re grateful to see so many people coming out, but we just feel we need to do something before it’s too late,” she said.
“In the last 13 years, teachers have experienced a paycut of 38 per cent in real terms."
With no Stormont Executive, she said education was facing "a punishment budget" from Westminster.
“More children are presenting with special needs and, in my school, I’m trying to provide six lessons a day presented over at least three levels of ability," she said.
“The amount of time that takes to prepare while parents are also being asked to send in more materials like pencils and handwash.
“This will be devastating to schools and it’s the most vulnerable children in our society who will suffer the most," she said.
