“The Education Minister’s Threats To School Staff Over Pay Is An Absolute Disgrace!” – Brolly

Aontú Education Spokeswoman, Gemma Brolly, has criticised the Minister for Education after she said that teachers could suffer pay cuts in the event they strike.

Speaking today, Gemma Brolly said “There is a crisis in education in the North of Ireland. Classroom staff have worked relentlessly through the global pandemic. They have risked and sacrificed so much despite being wildly under-resourced and under-supported. For the Minister to threaten teachers now is a slap in the face for all the work they’ve done in recent years.”

Ms Brolly continued: “The hypocrisy of the Minister undermining workers’ rights, while Stormont MLAs are claiming a wage despite being unable to form an executive due to the refusal of said Minister’s party, is unbelievable. If we want quality education for our children, we need to support our teachers the best we can.”

“Worker’s rights are central to what Aontú believes. As a teacher myself, I know the hardships that classroom staff have gone through over the past few years. Stormont has consistently failed classroom staff, Stormont has pushed them to strike. To ignore their pleas for respect and fair wages and then threaten these workers is a horrendous disgrace. The Minister should be doing all she can to avoid industrial action to invite it” concluded Ms Brolly.

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