Teachers have rejected a pay offer of 5.5% and will begin industrial action short of a strike on Monday.
Following consultation with members, five teaching unions said they could not accept the offer tabled by employers nearly two weeks ago.
The employers, the Department of Education, Education Authority and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), said the increase, backdated to last September, would cost an estimated £83m, at the “very limits of affordability”.
The Northern Ireland Teachers Council, made up of the UTU, INTO, NASUWT, NAHT and NEA, said it was “not in a position to ratify an agreement”.
Members of the NAHT, which represents head teachers, did accept the offer but because it was rejected by others it could not be accepted.
Jacquie White, UTU general secretary and chair of NITC, said her members “raised concerns around the clarity of the offer and have indicated that they are unable to accept at this time”.
Ms White added: “We do, however, remain committed to seeking a way forward which delivers resolution for our members. Members will be commencing action short of strike on Monday.”
Employers said the proposed deal was for a 5.5% increase, commitments to workload issues and time frames for future pay offers.
The pay offer would mean teachers’ salary scales, excluding allowances, range from £31,650 to £48,919 and would require an additional £83m funding each year, the employers said.
They added that it follows on from a April 2024 deal raising the starting salary for teachers’ by almost 25%, and all other teachers pay by over 10%, at a cost of a further £170m each year.
Eve Bremner, chair on the management side of the negotiations and head of the CCMS, said it is “extremely disappointing” the trade unions are proceeding with industrial action.
“We offered a substantial increase as teachers deserve fair pay, but we also wanted to ensure pupils have a sustained period free from industrial action, so the offer included a commitment to work with the trade unions to deliver over twenty measures addressing workload concerns,” Ms Bremner added.
Mark McTaggart, INTO Northern Secretary, said: “Members and school leaders have informed us that they were unhappy with the perceived restrictions included in last week’s offer.”
While the membership of the NAHT voted to accept the offer, the “wider NITC position means that the offer has not been ratified by all unions and will, therefore, not be progressed in its current form”, said Graham Gault, the union’s national secretary in the north.
