Warning of further strike action during school exam period over 'Stormont budget failure'

School pupils in Northern Ireland could face disruption during the upcoming exam period due to strike action.

Officials and workforce reps from the Unite union have begun coordinating an industrial response as they say the Stormont budget fails to provide anything for low paid education workers.

The budget was agreed following a lengthy Executive meeting on Thursday, although Health Minister Robin Swann voted against it while the Alliance Party has also been critical.

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Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald has said no Stormont ministers have received the funding they asked for in the budget, which covers the 2024/25 financial year.

In her first draft budget, Ms Archibald allocated around £14.5billion in resource spending and £2.1billion for capital projects in Northern Ireland

Department of Finance officials had previously warned that the demands from ministers for funding far outstripped the money available in the budget.

In the resource budget, Ms Archibald had £1billion to allocate once previously earmarked funding was provided. Her department had received funding bids from ministers totalling £3.2billion.

Health gets the biggest share of the resource budget, receiving £7.76billion (51.2%) of the total amount allocated to departments for day-to-day costs.

Education has received almost a fifth of the resource funding, receiving £2.87billion, an increase of 11.5% from the previous financial year.

However, Unite says the pay and grading review that the Department of Education was instructed to implement to tackle low pay and inequalities in 2018, is set to remain unfunded for a seventh year, threatening an even worse staffing crisis in the sector.

A letter from Education Minister Paul Givan to the education unions confirmed that “the allocations provided do not include funding for the pay and grading review”.

He also admitted that school support workers, who include special educational needs classroom assistants and bus escorts as well as education bus drivers, are “among the lowest paid in the sector and doing vital work supporting children and young people”.

He ended by calling on the unions to work with his department on the issue and offered a meeting with his deputy secretary to “discuss the way forward”.

Unite regional secretary Susan Fitzgerald said Stormont's budget failed the overwhelmingly female school support workforce and it failed children.

She added: "This workforce has waited six years for the pay and grading review needed to raise pay and deliver equality. Low paid education workers are being told to wait another year – but our members will wait no longer.

“Unite will now seek to progress a common industrial response with the other education unions. The four unions need to stand and strike together to win improved pay for all education workers.”

Kieran Ellison, lead regional officer for education in Unite, said,“ Does Stormont believe workers will not see through this blatant attempt to string them along with platitudes until the end of June, after exam season, and into the summer holiday period with no progress on pay until the next academic year?

“Our members will not be fooled. If the parties think they can use our members’ pay and children’s education as leverage in negotiations with Westminster, then they are playing a dangerous game.

“By leaving workers no alternative, there’s a mounting risk that the NI Executive will engineer industrial action at the height of the schools’ exam period.”

In her budget statement, Ms Archibald said: “No department has received the level of funding it has bid for.

“With increased demands on services and rising costs, I recognise these allocations won’t provide sufficient funding for departments to do everything they want – that is regrettable.

“However, this budget demonstrates the commitment of the Executive – despite the severity of the financial challenges facing us – to work together to make tough choices and demonstrate the leadership that people rightly expect.”

Ms Archibald said she would continue to make the case to the UK Treasury for more investment in public services in Northern Ireland.

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