Teachers may strike over 'unsustainable' workload

Teachers in Northern Ireland are to vote on whether to take industrial action over what they say is their "unsustainable" workload.

The five main teaching unions are to ballot their members from 10 June and it could lead to strike action in the new school year.

Although a pay deal for teachers was agreed in 2025, many said their workload was also a significant problem. The ballot will run until the start of September.

Stormont's Education Minister Paul Givan said he was "genuinely disappointed" by the decision of the unions.

In February, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) took the unusual step of declaring a "trade dispute" with the Department of Education (DE) over workload.

In response, Givan established an independent review of teacher workload.

Completed in 2025, the review included 27 recommendations aimed at reducing "excessive workload not directly related to teaching and learning".

It also identified a "huge growth in Special Educational Needs (SEN) related workload" for teachers and school leaders.

But in their statement announcing the ballot for industrial action, the teaching unions said that the department's action plan "did not go far enough" in reducing the workload of teachers and school leaders.

The joint statement from the NASUWT, INTO, UTU, NAHT and NEU unions said they had been left with "no alternative" but to seek a mandate for industrial action.

NASUWT's Justin McCamphill said the department had "dragged their heels and lacked the courage to take on the difficult issues with clear statements about the requirements placed on teachers".

Mark McTaggart, from INTO, said "too many concerns remain unresolved," while the UTU's Jacquie White said "teachers and school leaders are still facing an incoming academic year which is not promising change or improvement".

NAHT's Graham Gault said "school leaders have yet to experience any meaningful reduction in the huge pressures they face," while the NEU's Pauline Buchanan said "there has been insufficient progress on core matters".

The minister said "addressing teacher and school leader workload has been a priority".

He said the department's workload action plan set out "a clear programme of reform to reduce unnecessary workload and build a more manageable and sustainable workload culture".

"I am therefore genuinely disappointed that some unions have chosen to proceed to ballot," he said.

"I would urge teachers and school leaders to consider carefully the full range of reforms and practical measures already in train.

"Meaningful and lasting progress on workload can only be achieved by working together and that work is well under way."