Teachers across Northern Ireland are set to take part in a 12-hour strike. The stoppage – on the same day thousands of health workers are also set to walk out – will run until midday today (Tuesday) in a dispute over pay and the future of the profession.
Members of five unions are to take part and schools will reopen at noon to provide free school meals. Ian McGonigle, NEU NI president, said pay for teachers has fallen by almost 40% in real terms since 2010.
"We are not only striking for ourselves, but for the future of the teaching profession and our colleagues too," he said. "We all know teachers who are so burnt out they are going part-time in droves or on long-term sick absence, colleagues at the beginning of their careers whose take-home pay will be irreparably damaged and reduce their earning power across their entire career.
