Minister won’t back demand to end ‘unequal’ pay for teachers

EDUCATION Minister Richard Bruton refused to commit himself to ending unequal pay in the teaching profession, despite the Teachers Union of Ireland last night rejecting the latest public service pay deal for that reason.

Mr Bruton said it was a matter of budgetary considerations, and there had to be ‘equality of equality’ in how available funds were used to address various needs – including those of schools and the children attending classes.

He said he had previously held talks with the teaching unions about the ‘destiny’ of how the matter would be involved, but said low-pay on new entrants to teaching had been introduced at the height of the financial crisis in order to allow a fresh intake in the first place. Some pay scales had already been united, added Mr Bruton, despite his two junior ministers at the Department of Education – Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Independent John Halligan – saying they supported equal pay for equal work for all teachers at the same grade.

There was inequality in the teaching profession based on seniority and experience, Mr Bruton said. ‘Teachers are on an incremental scale and they are paid differently. The Lansdowne and Haddington Road Agreements allow us a route to discussing this issue in the future, and there have been consultations,’ he said.

‘But we also have to equal to children and their families, and with other groups in the public sectors and elsewhere. Equality can’t be addressed in isolation.’

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) voted to reject the proposed pay deal in a national ballot by a margin of 87% to 13%. The turnout was 52%.

And the union also voted for industrial action, up to and including strike action, by a margin of 81% to 19%.

TUI president Joanne Irwin said: ‘Throughout the negotiations that led to this proposed agreement, TUI unambiguously identified the issue of pay equality for those appointed after 1st January 2011 as being of primary importance.

‘It is morally wrong that two colleagues are placed on significantly different pay scales although carrying out the same work,’ she said.