Education Minister expresses hope that industrial action can be avoided following Teaching Unions’ Industrial Action Ballot results
Date published:
Education Minister Paul Givan has expressed hope that significant progress made through negotiations over the summer can be concluded positively to avoid industrial action.
Education Minister Paul Givan has expressed hope that significant progress made through negotiations over the summer can be concluded positively to avoid industrial action.
Paul Givan said:
Since becoming Education Minister, I have delivered unprecedented pay rises for teachers and support staff in a very challenging financial environment. I have been fully committed to reducing teacher and school leader workload as I recognise the pressures facing our teaching workforce. My Department has been working to deliver practical measures that support teachers and school leaders in their work.
At my request, a panel was established to identify workload-related issues. The panel’s recommendations have been taken forward and the employers along with my Department are committed to implementing them. Significant progress has been made through the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) conciliation process.
The Minister continued:
Negotiations over recent months have been very constructive with agreement reached across a range of issues in dispute. This ballot was initiated before the negotiations had commenced and the outcome does not reflect the genuine efforts that have been made by all parties to find a resolution.
My Department and Management Side have engaged in good faith, demonstrating a willingness to listen and respond and we will continue to do so. We will also need to consider how further engagement can be structured in a way that is meaningful and has a realistic prospect of reaching agreement. I believe that further progress is possible through continued engagement and I will continue to work with the NITC and employers to find a way forward.
Notes to editors:
1. The Teacher Workforce Action Plan was published on 28 April 2026 to address recommendations made by the Independent Review of Teacher Workload Panel, commissioned by the Minister in May 2025. The Action Plan is available on the DE website at: https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/publications/teacher-workload-action-plan
2. While teaching unions welcomed many aspects of the Action Plan, they sought further action in a number of areas and subsequently entered into dispute. Since then, representatives of the Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC) and Teachers' Negotiating Committee (TNC) Management Side have engaged in a programme of intensive discussions, supported by the Labour Relations Agency (LRA), to seek a resolution.
3. The Northern Ireland Teaching Council (NITC) comprises the five main teaching unions - Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), National Education Union (NEU), Ulster Teachers’ Union (UTU).
4. Management Side of the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee (TNC) comprises representatives of all the education employing authorities, sectoral bodies and Department of Education (Education Authority, CCMS, GBA, CnaG, NICIE and DE).
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