A leading teaching union has warned that further strike action could be on the cards as teachers joined health workers on the picket lines earlier today for the first time in years.
Schools across Northern Ireland reopened at noon on Tuesday to provide free school meals after teachers took to picket lines rather than classrooms for a rare 12-hour strike in an ongoing dispute over pay and the future of the profession.
Thousands of education workers from the four main teaching unions - the NASUWT, INTO, UTU and NEU - took part in a half-day strike over pay - their first walkout in six years.
Read more: In pictures: NI teachers and health workers take part in strike action
Teachers say they have faced more than a decade of cuts to pay and conditions, which is also impacting on pupils, and believe that enough is enough.
Around 1,000 teaching staff and healthcare workers took part in a protest at Belfast City Hall where there was a warning that teachers could be set for more walkouts if their demands are not met.
The NASUWT union is calling for a 12% increase in salaries while the INTO has said teachers hope to encourage employers and the Department of Education to the negotiating table. Many teachers in Northern Ireland were offered a 3.2% rise in 2021/22 and 2022/23,
Gerry Murphy, Northern Secretary of the INTO, told the protest in Belfast city centre: "This is one big strike by two sectors only in the public service. By the middle of March, every public service across the North will be on strike or about to go on strike - let's see how long they can hold out then."
And he added: "If this doesn't work folks, we can do this again."
Justin McCamphill, from the NASUWT, told the rally: "Teachers are struggling to make ends meet. Teachers have told us they have had to cut back on essential household expenditure, they have told us that worrying about finances has affected their ability to do the job.
"Teachers have told us how they have had to take on second jobs, teachers have told us their workload is impacting their mental and physical health. This is not a foundation for delivering high-quality education to our children and young people."
Stevie Jenkins, the INTO's Belfast Chair and a teacher at Dominican College in Fortwilliam, said the education sector is "on its knees".
He told Belfast Live: "Since 2010, teachers have faced a cut in pay in real terms of 20%, the highest of any public sector worker. If you take into account mortgages, energy payments, childcare and cost of transport, teachers are left with very little in their pay packet at the end of the month.
"There's also the funding issue as for the last decade, principals and bursars have been juggling trying to keep schools running with more pupils in the classroom and fewer teachers to teach them as the staffrooms are getting emptier."
Mr Jenkins, added: "What the government must remember is that our working conditions are the children's learning conditions so when we suffer, they suffer and our welfare is their welfare.
"The recruitment and retention of young teachers is also an issue as after they pay for their rent and commute to work, there's very little left and the chances of promotion at the minute are very slim."
Also on the picket lines was Catherine Maguire, Vice Principal at St John the Baptist Primary School, who said: "It's very rare for teachers to take this action but we're out to secure a better pay deal and better service for our children and young people.
"Schools budgets have been cut increasingly over the last few years and it has got to the stage where it's unsustainable."
She added: "Teachers are seeing an increasing number of pupils with SEN (special educational needs) and emotional well-being needs and they're struggling to meet the needs of these children.
"We want to do our best for our children, but it's becoming increasingly hard with over-worked teachers and underfunded schools. I've been a teacher for 28 years and in that time, this is the most difficult period I've gone through."
Unions also held rallies at six other locations across Northern Ireland in Derry, Omagh, Ballymena, Newry, Bangor and Coleraine.
Responding, the Education Authority (EA) said active engagement has been taking place for many months between management and the Teachers' Negotiating Committee (TNC) on a pay settlement for 2021/22 and 2022/23.
"However, it is important to note these negotiations are taking place at a time of growing and unprecedented financial pressures within the education sector which continue to adversely impact schools, staff and ultimately children and young people," an EA spokesperson said.
"Management side remains committed to continuing meaningful, active engagement with trade union colleagues to reach a resolution and ensure our teachers are fairly remunerated."
Some health workers were also striking on Tuesday over pay and conditions. They include workers in domiciliary care, social work, ambulance workers, administration and nursing staff.
For health and public service unions, Unite, Unison, Nipsa and GMB, this was further 24-hour strike action in a pay dispute. Padraig Mulholland, Nipsa deputy general secretary, said there are massive numbers of public servants "preparing for battle in the next few weeks and months".
"The next step has to be a general strike of every public sector worker," he added.
Video by Belfast Live videographer Harry Bateman.
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