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THE TEACHERS’ UNION of Ireland Executive has voted unanimously to reject the new proposed public sector pay deal.
In a statement this evening, the TUI said that the Executive would be recommending to its members to reject the deal.
Commenting after a meeting, TUI President Joanna Irwin said it would be unconscionable to recommend that its members accept the deal.
Irwin said the union acknowledged “the pay restoration elements” in the proposed deal.
“However, an unwinding of the unacceptable, unfair and inequitable two-tier pay system was the key priority for TUI on entering the recent negotiations,” she said.
“Wherever and whenever possible, we vigorously pushed the issue forward.”
‘The draft proposed agreement would have the effect of blocking further progress for at least three years,” she said.
At a time when schools are struggling to attract teachers for an increasing number of subjects due to more lucrative options in other employments, the process of full pay equalisation requires urgent acceleration, not delay.
Earlier, Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Paschal Donohoe said the deal with public sector unions is “fair to workers and taxpayers”.
The deal reached between government and the union on the new draft pay agreement will see pay restoration for the vast majority of public sector workers.
A representative of another trade union Siptu said on Today with Sean O’Rourke that their key objective to protect jobs from being outsourced has been satisfied by the new draft pay agreement.
But he said that they went into the agreement with a long list of demands, so not all of them have been achieved.
The TUI’s membership will be balloted on the agreement in September.
“The Executive Committee will be strongly advocating that they reject it,” said Irwin.
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Excellent to see the union fighting for its most vulnerable young members. This deal has to be rejected until Equal Pay for Equal Work is fully achieved. Inequality has no place in Ireland in 2017.
@Kev: Why not use the €800 million over 3 years to restore equal pay for equal work. No pay rises then for any other public servants. Cant have both.
@Kev: the lower pay was bought in as the country can’t afford the high pay that was bought in during bench marking. If they bench marked today pay would be lower.
Why don’t the higher paid teachers agree to a lower pay so that the wage bill will stretch to increasing that of the lower paid ones ?
@Kev: the TUI sold them down the river in the first place so talk of them fighting for their vulnerable young members is absolute nonsense.
@brian magee: great idea. better still, why dont we reorganise the tax system so that the money from the too-well off is spread around ensuring that we all get a fair wage and better public services
@Kev: Equal pay for equal work, but we want increments!
Equal pay for equal work, but we want increments!
Equal pay for equal work, but we want increments!
Equal pay for equal work, but we want increments!
Good. The principle of equal pay for equal work is a cornerstone of a just society. Over the course of their careers young teachers will lose a sickening amount of money.
@The Risen: The teachers voted for the 2 tier system.
@Michael Doyle: No they didn’t.
@Michael Doyle: tui accepted on behalf of teachers and did not allow them to vote on the issue! Please don’t comment when you don’t understand the situation
Why don’t the teachers show solidarity with the new entrants by foregoing a portion of the proposed 7-8% increases and having this expenditure diverted to the new entrants instead?
@Sean @114: I think you, and everyone else, knows exactly why. Let’s just say solidarity is for the little people.
Why do they bother sending in Union Reps when they’re just going to reject what the Reps accept?
Literally no point negotiating with the Reps – they have no authority.
Teachers with their grinds for well off students buying their junior and leaving results. Middle class tax evasion at its worst by so called “good or great”???? teachers
Teachers pay some tax on your under the table grinds to spoilt students whose parents help them by buying their kids junior and leaving certs
@abcyz: you have anything to back that up ?
@Suzie Sunshine: An angry, hysterical rant without any facts to back it up? On the Journal? Never!
Siptu sell out it’s member’s again.
Headline should read” Unions screw younger members to protect benefits for ole boys”
Its a well known fact that the average private sector worker and their offspring by reason of their genetics, physique , hand shape and sharper teeth are simply a more efficient worker than the public sector work whose hands are rounded and blunt teeth make for a more inefficient worker. The public sector worker chews bread 10 times where as the private worker only chews 8.5 times. A public worker shop costs 96 euro but a private sector worker pays 102 euro. So its very obvious that public sector families need less money than private sector workers.
I’ve never read so many idiotic comments made by uniformed buffoons on one story.
Congrats to you all #whataboutery gone wrong
Heres an idea reduce usc for all… fkin chancers
TUI YE A JOKE! Ye took all the advantages of the last pay agreement and didn’t care less about young teachers. Ye have happily taken on Asti members even during industrial action
The difference a vowel makes!
If you read between the Lines, they will catch Ina few years with higher Increases!
Its annoying that the TUI executive have worked the new members into a frenzy on this issue when new teachers are still given extremely good pay and conditions.That is leading to poor morale. The executive needs to accept that some members are simply luckier than others, unless the luckier ones want to forgo pay rises for the next few years.
The issue is of affordability and equality in the wider sense is based on what is affordable for the taxpayer and what is moral accross the whole of the workforce. Not just in the small bubble of teaching community.
A real inequality here is that public sector pensions are being paid by private sector workers, who don’t get any thing back in return. Personally I think that personal USC payments should be a personal pension fund for ever private sector workers. Alot more should be done in this area.
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