THOUSANDS of teachers and health workers gathered at City Hall on Tuesday morning to protest against poor working conditions and unsatisfactory pay.

Most of the North’s Unions were also present with representatives from Unison, , Unite, Irish National Teacher’s Organisation (INTO), Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA), GMB Union and Ulster Teacher’s Union (UTU) amongst others, with all unions converging to City Hall to show solidarity.

Also in attendance were political representatives of most of the North’s political parties including MPs, MLAs and councillors from Sinn Féin, SDLP, Alliance, Green Party and People Before Profit.

Outside schools across Belfast teachers took to the picket lines to strike for better pay. The decision came after members of NASUWT and INTO teachers unions voted overwhelmingly for strike action due to the failure to be offered a fair pay award. 

Unions have called for teachers to be given a 12 per cent pay increase.

The strike lasted for a half day until 12 noon.

STRIKE: Teachers and health workers on strike at City Hall
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STRIKE: Teachers and health workers on strike at City Hall

Teacher’s were joined by striking health workers and Housing Executive maintenance workers who have also been on strike over the same issues including overwork, poor conditions and pay.

Some teachers stayed at their pickets outside their schools to maintain the protest whilst others joined health workers to travel to City Hall to voice their concerns and make themselves heard.

Gerry Murphy who heads the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) for Northern Ireland was one of a number of speakers and told striking workers that they were joined in solidarity by workers from unions in the rest of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Mr Murphy urged the occupants of the Northern Ireland Office to come out and face the crowds and negotiate with them.

Mr Murphy said this was a strike involving two sectors but in March every single sector would either be out on strike or preparing to strike. He said two lies were frequently cited concerning strikes: one that they were pointless and that employers did not have enough money to pay workers. Mr Murphy said the numbers in attendance highlighted how striking in solidarity wasn’t pointless and that there was huge sums of money wastefully spent on many Tory projects such as unusable PPE products and the failure to tax energy companies on their record £170 billion profits.

Mr Murphy stated unions can call this action again and would be back in two weeks if they still did not receive a fair pay offer.

STRIKE: Children were amongst the crowd supporting their teachers on strike
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STRIKE: Children were amongst the crowd supporting their teachers on strike

Ciaran McCann, a teacher at St Mary’s Grammar School, said he supported the strikes and was glad to see health workers join them in solidarity:

“Teacher’s feel at breaking point at the moment," he said. "The vast majority of my colleagues have experienced little support and teachers have had a lot put on them with education cuts and also with the pandemic and the erosion of working conditions.

"With the cost of living crisis, just like everyone else we are struggling and our proposed pay increase amounted to a pay cut due to how much inflation has risen. It’s great to see so many people out here today supporting us and to see health workers join us as well. Fair pay and conditions are long overdue for many workers.”

Jane McConville of Elmgrove Primary School said teachers had been pushed into striking due to the pay offer they received. 

“It’s frequently put out that teachers were offered a pay rise, but this is only partly true. Only some teachers were offered a pay rise. New teachers coming in would have received a higher salary than previously and also those in top positions would have received a bigger bump also. Teachers in the middle weren’t offered anything. The offer also said our union would not be allowed to go back and negotiate for a further three years, which means that as well as having no pay increase for the last few years, we would then be locked into not getting one for another three more.”

Jane added that teachers did not want to be on strike, they wanted to be back in their classrooms teaching but conditions had reached a point where they had to come out on strike.

“Teachers are overworked, teachers want to be teaching but the pressures being put on us and receiving very little support and having ever fewer resources means our jobs are becoming unworkable. We want to be giving children the best learning experience possible and we are not being given the conditions in which to do this.”

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll who attended the picket at Royal Victoria Hospital said: “Today’s strike actions are taken on behalf of everyone who relies on our education system and our NHS, on behalf of pupils and on behalf of patients."

STRIKE: Thousands thronged City Hall to demand better pay and conditions
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STRIKE: Thousands thronged City Hall to demand better pay and conditions

Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan expressed his support for the teachers.

“Teachers are entitled to fair pay and conditions," he said.

“Teachers shouldn't have to strike at a time when workers, including teachers, are facing the biggest squeeze on their finances in a generation due to the cost of living crisis.

“A decade of Tory austerity has also caused significant pressures within education and schools."