NI teachers reject 5.5% pay rise offer again

The majority of teachers in Northern Ireland have rejected a 5.5% pay offer for 2024/25 for a second time.

It could mean that teachers take strike action as they have already voted for that.

The Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC), which represents the teaching unions, said teachers were unable to accept the offer.

BBC News NI understands that teachers in the NASUWT and INTO unions, who are the two biggest, voted by a majority against the revised pay offer.

However, teachers in the UTU, NEU and NAHT voted by a majority to accept it.

But as the unions work collectively in the NITC, overall the offer was rejected.

They had put the latest pay offer to their members, but it has again been rejected.

BBC News NI understands that some of the terms of the offer did not go far enough to address concerns from teachers about their increasing workload.

The teaching employers, who include the Education Authority (EA), the Department of Education (DE) and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), had said the latest offer included a number of measures to address concerns about workload.

They also said the 5.5% pay offer would have cost Stormont just under £50m in 2024/25 and around £83m in future years.

If implemented, it would have seen a relatively new teachers' pay rise from £30,000 to £31,650 a year, while teachers higher up the pay scale would have received rises of about £2,000 to £2,500 a year.

The pay increases would have been back paid to 1 September 2024.

It is unclear what the immediate future holds but the unions will continue with action short of strike in schools.

In a statement, union leaders again cited concerns about workload as a reason why their members rejected the offer.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation's (INTO) Northern secretary Mark McTaggart said his members had "raised concerns around the clarity of the offer in terms of reducing workload".

The NASUWT Official for Northern Ireland Justin McCamphill said that teachers had "considered the offer carefully and have made their decision based on their professional judgement and lived experience in schools".

About 56% of members of the NASUWT voted to reject the offer, but it is not yet clear how many members of the others unions voted against it.

Meanwhile, UTU general secretary Jacquie White said: "Teachers across the profession, due to inadequate funding, resources and support, feel strongly that they can no longer fully meet the needs of children in their schools, and this has been reflected in their response."

Director of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) Northern Ireland John Trueman said it was "very disappointing" that the latest pay offer was rejected.

"It is clear that workload remains teachers' biggest concern, and this has been reflected in this response from the NITC."

He added that it is "not acceptable to continue with a recurring cycle of industrial action where those who are impacted most negatively are the children and young people we are here to serve".

NEU Regional Secretary Pauline Buchanan said that unions remained "determined to find a resolution and are ready to pursue further talks."

Members of the NAHT union had, however, accepted the pay offer and their Northern Ireland secretary Graham Gault said that they would "consider our next steps" but wanted an offer "accepted by all parties".

Meanwhile, the employers expressed "disappointment" that teachers had rejected the pay offer and urged the unions to suspend their ongoing industrial action "and to outline how this dispute can be brought to an end."