THE LARGEST union of teachers in Northern Ireland has voted to back a one-day strike action later this month in a row over public sector pensions.
More than two million workers across the UK are expected to walk out on November 30th in protest at British government reforms that unions say will leave them paying more, working longer and receiving less when they retire.
The latest union to join is the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Woman Teachers, whose members this weekend voted 76 per cent in favour of the strike after a 37 per cent turnout.
Its Northern Ireland organiser Séamus Searson said the action would protect the education service in the North.
“We are taking similar action to other public sector workers,” he said. “We are also cutting back on the administrative work teachers are expected to do.
“We see the education service under attack. The cut in the block grant here in Northern Ireland means that there will be redundancies, which means the children will miss out. As a result we think this action is necessary.”
The union’s general secretary Chris Keates said only the recession was preventing a mass exodus of its members from work, and warned of further action.
“Our schools are on the brink of a crisis affecting recruitment and retention.”
She said the members of the union had confirmed they could not go on like this.
“Members will be taking further action to reclaim the classroom from the shackles of unnecessary paperwork, bureaucracy and debilitating accountability,” she added. “They will be standing up for standards and demonstrating the importance of teaching.”
Members of the National Association of Head Teachers, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish National Teaching Organisation have already voted in favour of the walkout.
Unite, whose members include bus and train drivers, have also backed the strike action, meaning a potential disruption to public transport.