Classrooms will empty at 8 schools in Derry this afternoon after teachers strike over pay
A STRIKE by teachers across the North will hit Derry at lunchtime today.
Pickets lines will be formed at eight schools in Derry after teachers rejected an “insulting” pay offer.
The schools affected include Lisnagelvin Primary School, St. Brigid’s College and Drumahoe Primary School.
The move is being supported by four teaching unions, which recently took part in 13 months of talks between the General Teaching Council of Northern Ireland and the Education Authority.
The unions, including the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), the Ulster Teachers’ Union (UTU) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), walked out following an offer of a 1% pay rise for 2016/17 but no offer of a pay rise for last year.
INTO northern secretary Gerry Murphy told BBC NI that teachers are paid 16% less than their counterparts in some parts of the UK.
“It’s a postcode lottery for Northern Ireland teachers,” he said.
“To be paid 16% less than their UK counterparts is more than disheartening,” he said.
Unions also revealed that schools last week received a letter from education chiefs saying that £7 million which had been earmarked for teachers’ pay was now being diverted into schools.
