Blitz Bureau
THE majority of teachers in Northern Ireland have rejected a 5.5 per cent pay offer for 2024-25 and are set to take action short of strike.
BBC News NI understands that some of the terms of the offer on workload and strike action had proved to be contentious. Teaching unions had received the 5.5 per cent offer from the employers, including the Department of Education (DE).
It was expected to have cost the Northern Ireland Executive about £49m. But members of a number of teaching unions have declined to ratify the offer.
Teaching employers have said they are disappointed that the pay offer has not been ratified, and are calling on trade unions to cease their intended industrial action and bring forward proposals to resolve the dispute. The offer from the employers had said that schools needed “a prolonged period of stability free from industrial action and the threat of industrial action.” It also asked teachers to accept that “industrial action should only be taken as a last resort in any dispute”.
The offer also said that teachers should “commit to a period free from industrial action in the context of the agreed future pay negotiation timeframes and implementation of the agreed work programme”.
