'Unprecedented show of unity' as NI teaching unions set for industrial action over pay

The action was described as a "unprecedented show of unity".

Teaching unions in Northern Ireland are set to take industrial action over pay.

Members of the INTO union voted overwhelmingly in a ballot carried out during the last three weeks of September.

The union says the outcome mirrors the results of other teaching unions who have been balloting for industrial action in the same period.

It says "in an unprecedented show of unity", all five teaching unions in Northern Ireland have been "co-ordinating their balloting processes" and will now "embark on an agreed programme of industrial action short of strike".

Meanwhile the National Executive of the NAHT union of school leaders is due to meet in Belfast on Thursday to decide what the industrial action will include.

Gerry Murphy from INTO says the results of their ballot show its members' message to employers is that they "demand a fair and just pay rise".

He said: "The figures returned in favour of action short of strike and strike action are a clear manifestation of the frustration and anger our members and teachers as a whole are feeling.

"It can be no surprise to the powers that be, on the back of a cost-of-living crisis and on top of the two years of the pandemic when teachers kept the education system functioning at considerable risk to themselves and their families, that our members are angry and prepared to take action."