Strike action over pay and conditions by teachers in Northern Ireland schools is in prospect, a trade union warned today.
The general secretary of the NASUWT, the union representing more than half of the teachers and principals in the province, will host a meeting of union officers and branch officials in Belfast tomorrow to discuss a timetable for industrial action.
The union is pressing for parity for teachers in Northern Ireland with their colleagues in England and Wales, and said the impasse over pay and conditions had gone on too long.
NASUWT boss Chris Keates said: "I very much regret that we are heading towards a ballot of members, but the current situation on pay and conditions cannot be allowed to continue.
"Some progress has been made towards pay parity but there are a number of crucial outstanding issues to be resolved.
"No progress has been made on tackling teachers' excessive workload and working hours. The employers continue to resist constructive discussion on these matters."
Northern Ireland is lagging behind England and Wales on a number of fronts because the Government is dragging its feet, he said.
Since last September, teachers in England and Wales get 10 per cent of their school time timetabled for planning, preparation, and assessment under a national agreement signed in 2003.
In Northern Ireland the issue had been hardy discussed let alone agreed, said the union.
Equally, responsibility allowance points paid to senior teachers in the province are about £1,300, compared with £2,500 in Britain agreed in the 2003 deal.
Mr Keates said the Government needed to move immediately to break the impasse by building on the agreements reached on pay and conditions which were securing benefits for teachers outside the province.
"Unless this happens industrial action is inevitable. The NASUWT National Executive has already agreed a ballot. I will be discussing with Northern Ireland colleagues the timetable and plans for its implementation," Mr Keates warned.
PA