A LOCAL teacher has called on political leaders and the Stormont Executive to “come to the table with an offer” of better pay as teaching professionals face a return to the picket lines.
Some of the leading teaching unions in the North are considering holding a ballot on strike action after it was revealed that they still have not agreed on a pay deal, unlike their UK counterparts.
NASUWT executive committee member and member of the Irish Congress of Trades Unions Executive committee, Sally Rees, said it’s disappointing that a pay deal hasn’t been agreed on.
“We were in a position to begin negotiations for 2024/2025 and those negotiations didn’t take place in September There was informal meetings but no formal offer,” Ms Rees fumed.
“We knew we had to wait for the budget to come through and see what the funding would be. We have to remember that the teachers in England have already got their 5.5 per cent in September.”
Fermanagh teachers were on strike action back in January, their fourth time in 12 months, when they made their voices heard as part of their campaign to secure a pay deal in line with the UK.
Ten months later and frustration is high among teachers that they haven’t received the pay offer.
“The biggest disappointing is we’re still in a situation where we’re not achieving parity to our counterparts in the rest of these island,” Ms Rees said.
“I think the key action that needs to be taken by our political representatives is to have that meeting and come to the table with an offer.
“There is time for that to happen and prevent us going out on action if the offer is made.”
The Enniskillen teacher feels that the ongoing dispute over a future pay deal is having a negative impact on the recruitment of young staff, with many graduates looking for employment elsewhere.
“The key thing for our younger teachers is that we secured £30,000 as a starting salary for our newly qualified teacher,” said Ms Rees.
“That had a knock-on effect for teachers that may have been teaching longer but it’s been a real source of pride and determination because it was £24,000 the year before.
“The workload pressures that are on teachers is incredible and we have seen a massive increase and expectation on teachers.
“We have our teachers coming in, workload is being piled on top of them and sometime we have to stop and think if it’s beneficial to the young people in front of us.”
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