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File photo. Sam Boal

Teacher unions plan ballots for industrial action over stalled pay talks

The unions noted that workers’ pay has been diminished by soaring inflation.

TEACHER UNIONS HAVE announced plans to ballot members on industrial action over a lack of progress in public sector pay talks.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) and the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) both said today that they would ask members to vote next month on potential action.

The INTO accused the Government of “irresponsible procrastination” at public-sector pay talks and urged it to quickly put a “respectable” pay offer on the table.

The ASTI also urged the Government to bring a “credible” proposal on pay to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) discussions – which ended without agreement in June.

Both unions said they would be urging their members to back the industrial action.

The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has confirmed that it will meet tomorrow “and as we have previously stated, it is expected that we will ballot members in September on either a revised pay offer or on a co-ordinated public service campaign designed to achieve such an offer.”

TUI general secretary Michael Gillespie said the cost-of-living crisis must be addressed.

“Inflation has spiralled in the months since the review clause of the current public service pay deal was triggered, so any proposed pay increases must appropriately address the resulting severe cost-of-living crisis that is affecting society,” he said.

“Separately, for those teachers appointed since 2011, this cost-of-living crisis has been exacerbated by the pay discrimination that has seen them paid at a lower rate than their colleagues for carrying out the same work.

“Pay discrimination has also greatly contributed to a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in schools. The remaining elements of this pay discrimination must be resolved as a matter of urgency.”

The announcements come two weeks after the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said public sector unions were ramping up preparations for industrial action ballots as part of a co-ordinated campaign on public sector pay.

INTO President John Driscoll called on the Government to urgently return to the WRC negotiations with a respectable pay offer that unions could put to a ballot of their members.

“For five long months, soaring inflation has decimated workers’ take-home pay across the public and private sectors. Our members have waited patiently for their employer, the Irish Government, to take steps to address the enormous financial pressures they are facing,” Driscoll said.

“It beggars belief that – at a time when exchequer returns are in a broadly positive space – the Government is engaging in delay tactics, seemingly forgetting the trojan work of public servants during the recent pandemic,” he added.

ASTI President Miriam Duggan also noted that teachers and other public sector workers are trying to cope with hefty cost of living increases.

“A significant improvement in pay is essential to help offset spiralling inflation,” Duggan said.

“Teachers in common with other public sector workers are finding it difficult to make ends meet. It is very disappointing that the Government is showing such scant regard for public servants in light of all they contributed at the height of the pandemic,” she added.

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    Mute Brian Molloy
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    Aug 10th 2022, 8:49 PM

    Can’t the teachers not go on strike now during their holidays while they are being paid by the private sector

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    Mute Edmund Orlando
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    Aug 10th 2022, 9:03 PM

    @Brian Molloy: what do they earn ?

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    Mute Dino Manning
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    Aug 10th 2022, 9:07 PM

    @Brian Molloy: I don’t think you understand how strikes work! Oh dear

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    Mute Jason Ebbs
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    Aug 10th 2022, 9:13 PM

    @Brian Molloy: you didn’t think that one through did you ? If that was the case we’d all be on strike tomorrow !!

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    Mute Fandandi
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    Aug 10th 2022, 9:27 PM

    @Brian Molloy: You’ve had a mare there Brian, why don’t you take a few minutes there to think about how that would play out

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    Mute Paddy Cullen AIWS
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    Aug 10th 2022, 8:29 PM

    Got in quick before the budget spends the surplus on trying to alleviate some of the pressure on private sector workers

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    Mute D. Memery
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    Aug 10th 2022, 9:31 PM

    @Paddy Cullen AIWS: typically any budgetary measures impact both public and private sector workers. Further, any increased, or maintained, spending power of public sector workers is spend in private sector business, the trickle down increase strengthening the arguement for increases in private sector wages. But don’t let any of that affect your public sector biases there.

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    Mute Damon16
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    Aug 10th 2022, 10:46 PM

    @D. Memery: Now that’s the kind of trickle down economics the public sector like. Sure let’s advocate for a 1000% increase, the private sector will be booming.

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    Mute Paddy Cullen AIWS
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    Aug 10th 2022, 11:22 PM

    @D. Memery: I would imagine, in the current economic climate, that the increased or maintained spending power that any public service wage increase would result in, that would be spent in the private sector would go towards alleviating the increased cost of doing business and not, as you say, trickle down, to the average private sector employee, but I suspect you know that and are merely being facetious.

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    Mute Damon16
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    Aug 10th 2022, 10:42 PM

    “It is very disappointing that the Government is showing such scant regard for public servants in light of all they contributed at the height of the pandemic”

    Really? I remember schools being closed and while some teachers did a lot remotely, many did very little and still got full pay while many others took a huge cut on PUP. I also remember a big fight about the schools being re-opened when it eventually happened. No talk of making up the time over the summer of course. Incredibly out of touch.

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    Mute John Fagan
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    Aug 11th 2022, 12:28 AM

    It seems that the teachers find something every year to strike over.

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    Mute Jenn
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    Aug 11th 2022, 5:24 PM

    @John Fagan: there hasn’t been a strike since 2019, it was one union and it was centred around pay inequality which is still an ongoing issue

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    Mute Mogh Roith
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    Aug 10th 2022, 8:53 PM

    Government only believe in giving themselves pay rises.

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    Mute Stephen Kearon
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    Aug 10th 2022, 8:58 PM

    @Mogh Roith: untrue, when Govt was formed in June 2020 all Ministers took a 10% pay cut, plus have not accepted pay restoration all other 360,000+ public servants have received.

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    Mute James Reardon
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    Aug 10th 2022, 9:01 PM

    @Stephen Kearon: they received 2 if not 3 pay rises since then what’s wrong with ya? Latest one in January of this year.

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    Mute Stephen Kearon
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    Aug 10th 2022, 9:16 PM

    @James Reardon: Ministers didn’t, what back bench TDs got didn’t apply to members of the Executive

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    Mute Sean Salmon
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    Aug 10th 2022, 9:48 PM

    Hope they have a proper strike not these one day here and there strikes that influence nobody.

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    Mute Alan Kenny
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    Aug 11th 2022, 7:59 AM

    Didn’t the teaching unions agree to the 2 tiered pay system. Don’t know why they are giving out now. They screwed over their younger colleagues

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    Mute Joan
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    Aug 11th 2022, 11:10 AM

    @Alan Kenny: No. A common misconception: teaching unions agreed to a freeze on increments – a cost saving measure that affected everyone equally, new entrants & established alike. The two tier pay scale was implemented under FEMPI, from the floor of the Dail. Measures introduced to combat a financial emergency long passed, but never reversed.

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    Mute Ray #RespectForSNAs
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    Aug 11th 2022, 4:20 PM

    It’s not just the teaching unions folks. It’s across the public sector

    “Unions are to ramp up preparations for industrial action ballots after ICTU’s Public Services Committee (PSC) today (27th July) agreed to mount a coordinated union campaign on public service pay. The PSC is made up of unions representing over 90% of Ireland’s public servants.

    It’s expected that individual union ballots of public servants will commence towards the end of next month to facilitate a coordinated public service union campaign in September”

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