Teaching Staff take to the Streets of Newry

Teaching staff in Newry took to the streets today in a strike over pay, funding cuts and working conditions. Picket lines formed outside most of the city's schools from where they walked to Newry Town Hall for a rally at 10am. Several hundred gathered outside the Town Hall to listen to a series of somewhat emotional speeches from local teachers and union representatives. The strikers were also joined by health workers.

Kevin Donaghy, Principal, St Ronan's Primary School speaking at Newry Town Hall pointed out that currently less than 1% of his school budget actually goes on buying resources for the children at the school! Mr Donaghy said "My school budget 91% goes on staff, 9% is left to run the school. A quarter of that went on heat. Add in sub cover, electricity, telephone that's a third. Less than 1% of my school budget goes to buying resources for the children that we have in our school. We have nothing left to cut. Our budgets are decreasing. Inflation is going through the roof."

Simon Westcott, NASUWT was on the picket line at Our Lady's Grammar School "Teachers have been underfunded for a long time now, we're 38% down on our pay since the Tories took over. Education more generally has been chronically underfunded for a long time, we tried to negotiate and it's not been fruitful so we've decided to take action. We don't take it lightly. We're doing it for staff. We're doing it for students. We're doing it for the education sector more widely and we want to show that we're we're not prepared to be underfunded and underpaid and mistreated by the government any longer." said Westcott.

Also speaking at the Town Hall was James White, Sacred Heart Grammar School, a member of INTO who said that nobody wanted to find themselves in the current scenario. "Our strike action is the last resort and only used in circumstances where the employing authorities, the Department of Education and in the case of this dispute, the Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland Office are not responding to teachers reasonable demands, in regard to an annual cost of living increase. I just like many of you are suffering from the same financial pressures as other workers in society. We all continue to witness a crucifying cost of living crisis, largely as a result of political failures and mismanagement in London and Stormont. All the time we watch our monthly salaries devalue in real terms and we often ask ourselves the question why do we do it?"

Mr White explained that the real term value of teacher salaries has declined by close to 25% in the decade since 2012 yet workload has consistently increased. "How many of you like me find it more challenging to provide the same educational experiences for our young people? More often than not, we are simply told there are no resources, no money and the answer is often no. Yet our employers expect the same outcomes for our learners. We are met with major budget cuts. This most recently culminating in the Secretary of State's recent November 2022 budget. A Chairde, we are not just teachers. We are social workers. We are counsellors. We are the fixers, the carers and the protectors but more importantly, we are the difference.

He added "The profession has had enough of the contempt and disrespect being shown to it by the employers. Teaching is not nine to five. We forever go over and beyond. I like you no doubt have allowed this to affect our personal lives and the things that matter most, our families and our health. The employers and DE have already forgotten that it was the teachers whom risked their own lives and those of their families during the most recent pandemic. All for the benefit of our young people. This strike is not only about pay, but it's about the wider fallout from educational underfunding. This constant reduction of pay has led to a crisis in recruitment and retention in education. It has culminated in a demoralisation of our workforce. More teachers and school leaders are leaving the profession, and with the serious underfunding in education, employers are struggling to replace them. How is this going to play out for our children's futures?"

Kevin Donaghy, Principal, St Ronan's Primary School added "I've been doing a lot of thinking about why we're here today and what the purpose is today because whenever you turn on the TV, you hear all the politicians, the members of the Northern Ireland Executive say about how important education is, educational opportunities, that our children are the future, their mental health after COVID is so important, but how is that actually being lived out. They talk about that children are our future and our economy but we're here because of the politicians failure and the Northern Ireland Executive, to invest in schools, to invest in our teachers, to invest in all the school staff, but most importantly, to invest in our children and in the future."

Also speaking at the Town Hall rally was Pauline Buchanan, NEU Teachers Union. Ms Buchanan said "I'm specifically going to talk about education to show the government the strength of feeling amongst our members, that its policy on pay, and funding must be changed. Education is undervalued and underfunded. We've tried to talk to the government, we have provided the evidence about this crisis to them, year after year, and we've been ignored. There is no pay offer on the table."

Ms Buchanan concluded "We've been patient, we've been moderate and we've been reflective but our members have had enough, enough of cuts from this government, which have led to many schools facing difficulties finding the teachers they need, schools spending less on important equipment, schools cutting back on extracurricular clubs and classes, larger class sizes, teachers workload increasing, parents and teachers footing the bill for basic supplies for education. So today, we call on the government to pay up, to reward teachers for the vital work that they do andnto adequately fund education, to value education and to valuing educators. Our demands will only be listened to if we stand up for ourselves and for each other and it's good to be here today with our sister unions to join forces, to make change happen. There is no better time to act together as a profession than now."