Teachers to hold all-day strike later this month

FIVE teaching unions in the North have voted to hold an all-day strike in the North’s schools at the end of April.

National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) members will strike for the first time in its 125-year history for better pay, on Wednesday, April 26.

They will be joined on the picket lines by members of the four other major teaching unions – the NASUWT, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, the Ulster Teachers’ Union and the National Education Union – who all previously staged industrial action on February 26.

Liam McGuckin, the NAHT’s president in the North, said, “Strike action is the last resort; the very last resort.

“Our members have reached the absolute last shred of their patience with a system that is failing its schools, its workforce, and, most importantly, its young people.

“Without expedited significant investment, we will see a profession that holds together much of the fabric of society damaged irreparably.

“We are losing teachers and school leaders, and failing to recruit future teachers and school leaders.

“Our children deserve better than this.”

FAIR PAY

SDLP West Tyrone MLA, Daniel McCrossan, has said that strike action by teachers could be avoided by reaching a fair pay agreement.

Mr McCrossan, his party’s education spokesperson, said, “The SDLP stands fully behind our teachers and their unions who have taken this very difficult decision to hold a full day of strike action as they continue their fight for fair pay and working conditions. No teacher wants to find themselves in this position, but their pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears.”

The MLA added, “This situation could have been resolved long ago had employers and the government listened to teachers and taken their concerns seriously. I would urge fresh negotiations to begin to avert this strike action and reach an agreement that values the contributions of our teachers and other education staff.”