ALL TEACHER UNIONS THREATEN STRIKE IF MINISTER FAILS TO ENSURE EQUAL PAY
ALL three teacher unions have threatened to strike from September if the pay dispute surrounding new teachers is not resolved.
During their respective annual conferences, ASTI, TUI and INTO members voted overwhelmingly to ballot for industrial action, up to and including strike, if their demands to abolish the twotier pay system is not agreed on by early May.
Due to austerity cuts, teachers appointed after 2011 are on lower pay conditions than those who graduated before them, with the starting salary now at €36,000 compared to over €42,000 before these pay measures were introduced.
Education Minister Richard Bruton, who said ending the two-tier pay system would cost taxpayers some €200million, received a hostile welcome when he arrived at the ASTI conference in Cork yesterday, where teachers held placards demanding him to ‘End Pay Inequality’.
It appeared that only one member opposed the motion
‘It’s not an insignificant sum’
set out by ASTI president Ger Curtin, which stated: ‘Convention demands that the proposed engagement must commence in April 2018 and conclude by early May 2018 and have the capacity to achieve a resolution of all aspects of pay inequality.’
With around 75% of teacher pay now restored, talks between all public-sector unions and the Government will begin this month to negotiate further pay restoration.
Addressing yesterday’s conference, Mr Curtin called for an end to ‘pay discrimination’. He told union members and Minister Bruton that over the past decade, cuts to school resources meant ‘doing more with less has become a public policy matter’, as teaching workloads reach a ‘new high’.
‘The learning conditions in schools are highly influenced by the working conditions of teachers,’ Mr Curtin said.
‘To the Minister, I say, “Quality teaching is at the heart of a strong education system”.
‘There are many things in your favour – the main reasons why young people choose second-level teaching as a career are fortunately because it presents opportunities to change children’s lives for the better and secondly because they want to teach a subject that they love.
‘These awards will always be there, however our research shows us that our recently qualified teachers are conflicted by their strong commitment to their students and their schools, and the frustration they feel about their inferior terms and conditions and insecure employment.’
He concluded: ‘I ask you today, Minister, make the first right move towards keeping a sustainable career for our best graduates. Minister, give them equal pay for equal work.’
When asked if he believes the ultimatum provided by the unions will be met, Minister Bruton said we will ‘have to see how negotiations go’, as ending a two-tier payment system across the public sector would come with a ‘significant cost tag’ of €200million.
‘We have made significant progress on pay restoration already,’ he said, adding that almost half of the €550million budget provided for education has gone towards restoration.
‘It’s not an insignificant sum, €200million across the public service that hasn’t been budgeted for.’
The Minister added that there is ‘no doubt’ that the negotiations will be difficult.
‘It’s a significant discussion and I’m not in a position to predict the timing or the potential to meet that deadline. There is a commitment in government to find a way through this challenge.’