Dear member,
We know that you will be frustrated and anxious for clarity about the next steps in our industrial action, and we want to update you following intensive negotiations this week.
We have been clear throughout: any agreement must deliver meaningful, enforceable and lasting reductions in workload for all our members. We will not settle for promises that do not deliver real change in schools.
Members gave us a very strong mandate for industrial action, and we remain fully prepared and are ready to act on that mandate.
In the last few days, however, negotiations have accelerated considerably. What is currently on the table, and agreed in principle with the Management Side, genuinely has the potential to be the most significant improvement to teachers' workload arrangements in Northern Ireland since the Jordanstown Agreement.
There remain some technical issues, including finalising documentation, which are being addressed as a matter of urgency. We remain committed to constructive engagement and hope that these outstanding matters can be resolved quickly, thereby avoiding the need for industrial action. At this point, should an agreement not be secured, the last date that Industrial Action can start is the 28th September 2026.
While these negotiations continue members are reminded of the following:
Where a member has no Directed Time Budget they should adhere strictly to TNC 2024/2 and fulfil their contracted duties. As per TNC 2024/2 para 5. 1f; “An annual schedule of meetings will be provided in advance of the academic year. Meetings for all staff, including those with teaching allowances will be accommodated within Directed Time budgets.” Therefore members should only attend meetings where they have been accommodated within a Directed Time budget.
Progress has been made in relation to working hours & workload issues affecting school leaders across all sectors. Members are further reminded that school leader hours and school leader workload remain part of these negotiations.
Further dates have been agreed for negotiations to move the outstanding issues forward as matter of urgency.
Kind regards
Pauline Buchanan
Regional Secretary