Secondary school teachers are to hold a one day strike after 89% of the members of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) voted in favour of industrial action.
While the strike date has yet to be revealed it is likely to happen before the general election.
According to TUI President Gerry Quinn, the stoppage will only be avoided if members’ demand for meaningful talks on issues of pay and security of employment for young teachers among others is met.
"Following an overwhelming mandate for industrial action from members, TUI's Executive Committee today decided that unless the union's demand for talks on a number of crisis issues is met, teachers will take a day's strike action before the general election,” explained Mr Quinn.
Explaining the reason behind the strike, he said the workload for teachers has increased significantly and administrative duties were taking them away from “the core roles of classroom teaching and learning”.
“Despite the current rhetoric about economic recovery, anti-educational cutbacks continue to have a devastating effect on the quality of service to students in terms of larger class sizes, less access to one-to-one attention and less pastoral support", he said.
