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PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS who are members of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) will take part in industrial action next month amid the ongoing public sector pay dispute. 

The teachers’ union, which has over 48,000 members, said they will begin work-to-rule on 5 October.

They will also join with other public sector workers in the proposed nationwide strike on 14 October.

Today, union Fórsa also served notice of industrial action on local authority employers. They intend to begin industrial action from 30 September.

Fórsa’s Local Government & Local Services division represents 12,000 members employed in city and county councils and regional assemblies nationwide, while the union’s Municipal Division represents 1,500 members working in Dublin City Council.

Primary school teachers

A ballot for industrial action had a turnout of 57.5%. Of those, 99.5% voted to support the action.

The union said it is taking the action “to secure a credible pay settlement for the second half of 2026 and beyond”. 

The previous public sector pay deal expired at the end of June. It provided for general pay increases of 9.25% for public sector workers, along with a 1% local bargaining fund.

Formal talks on a successor agreement have yet to begin.

The INTO said that from 5 October, its members in primary and special schools will not work beyond their contracted daily teaching hours.

They will also withdraw cooperation with additional hours, including those introduced under the Croke Park Agreement, until further notice.

“This result is an emphatic mandate from teachers in primary and special schools who are struggling to make ends meet,” Into General Secretary John Boyle said. 

“The increasing frustration of our members relates to the uncertainty surrounding salaries, particularly amid a cost-of-living crisis.”

Boyle said thousands of teachers and their families “are unable to cope with the cost of food, travel, energy, fuel, mortgages and rent”. 

He added: “They are rightly enraged by the Government’s failure to honour in full the previous public service agreement or to engage meaningfully with our union on the other pressing issues affecting them and the children they teach.”

The INTO joins unions Fórsa, Siptu and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) in backing industrial action over the pay deal. Healthcare workers in Fórsa and Siptu will take part in a work-to-rule on 30 September. 

They are calling for the government to provide pay increases in any further public sector pay agreement. 

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has repeatedly said that the government stands ready to engage in fresh talks with the unions and previously called the decision to take industrial action unnecessary.

The Department of Public Expenditure was contacted for comment.