Northern Ireland teachers to begin industrial action over workload

Northern Ireland teachers will begin industrial action over workload from Monday, 28 September, after negotiations between teaching unions, employers and the Department of Education failed to reach an agreement.

The Northern Ireland teachers industrial action will initially take the form of action short of strike, meaning teachers will continue teaching but withdraw from a range of duties unions say contribute to excessive workloads.

Five unions represented through the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) are involved: NASUWT, INTO, Ulster Teachers’ Union (UTU), National Education Union (NEU) and school leaders’ union NAHT.

The action follows ballots earlier this month which produced strong mandates for industrial action over the implementation of recommendations from the Independent Review of Teacher Workload. 

Northern Ireland teachers industrial action begins Monday

Union instructions seen by The Belfast Desk indicate the action will affect a wide range of work undertaken outside teachers’ core classroom responsibilities.

UTU members, for example, have been instructed not to undertake tasks which have not been included within their individual Directed Time budgets and not to exceed maximum weekly teaching hours, including cover.

Members have also been told to protect Planning, Preparation and Assessment time and refuse routine clerical or administrative duties which unions say are not properly part of a qualified teacher’s professional role.

Teachers have been instructed not to respond to emails, telephone calls or online learning messages outside Directed Time, unless specific time has been allocated for that purpose.

The instructions also place restrictions on meetings outside the normal pupil teaching day and on implementing new policies or initiatives which have not undergone workload assessments and consultation. Statutory safeguarding and child-protection responsibilities remain unaffected. 

Read the UTU industrial action instructions

Unions say workload remains unsustainable

The dispute centres on implementation of the recommendations contained in the Independent Review of Teacher Workload.

NASUWT said intensive negotiations had produced progress towards measures which could ultimately reduce workloads, but agreement could not be reached on immediate measures while remaining technical details were completed.

The union said management had sought a further four weeks to finalise aspects of implementation. NASUWT said it had been prepared to consider allowing additional time but wanted temporary measures introduced immediately to provide relief for teachers and school leaders.

NASUWT General Secretary Matt Wrack said teachers had voted overwhelmingly for industrial action and described the failure to reach agreement as a missed opportunity.

The union nevertheless said it remains available for further discussions aimed at securing implementation of the review’s recommendations. 

NAHT Northern Ireland has also confirmed its members will begin action at 00:01 on Monday.

National Secretary Dr Graham Gault said the union had agreed to an additional two weeks of negotiations in an effort to find a resolution but concluded that employers had been unable to provide the immediate workload relief sought by school leaders.

NAHT said detailed instructions for the first phase of its action would be issued to members. 

INTO has similarly instructed members to undertake continuous action short of strike from Monday while stating that it remains willing to continue discussions. 

What could the action mean for schools and parents?

Schools are not currently facing a general teachers’ strike or closure from Monday as a consequence of this announcement.

Instead, the action is designed to restrict work that teachers say extends beyond agreed hours and responsibilities.

Depending on union membership and arrangements within individual schools, potential effects could include restrictions around meetings, administrative work, staff cover, communications outside allocated working time and participation in some additional initiatives.

Normal teaching duties and statutory safeguarding requirements remain in place under the published UTU instructions. 

Parents should therefore continue to send children to school as normal unless contacted directly by their child’s school about a specific change.

Givan says progress had been made

Education Minister Paul Givan said today that he was disappointed by the unions’ decision to proceed with industrial action.

The Minister said constructive discussions had taken place during July and August and that “meaningful progress” had been achieved across the majority of issues being negotiated.

He acknowledged that further work remains necessary on a small number of issues but said he believes there is still scope to reach a negotiated agreement.

The Department of Education has said it remains committed to the negotiating process and is prepared to continue discussions. 

Department of Education response to the industrial action

The dispute could therefore still be resolved or the planned action altered if an agreement is reached before Monday.