Teaching unions express ‘serious concern’ over new pay deal

Second-level teaching unions have expressed “serious concerns” over the new public sector pay deal agreed on Tuesday.

The deal provides for increases of 10.75 per cent for about 400,000 staff on the State’s payroll, phased over a 33-month period to March 2029.

One per cent of this total 10.75 per cent is for local bargaining, an industrial relations mechanism for addressing exceptional circumstances in certain sectors.

Second-level teachers had previously reached agreement with the Department of Education to support senior cycle redevelopment under the condition of a three per cent general pay increase under the local bargaining clause of the previous public sector pay deal.

It was agreed that one per cent of this would be paid under the previous deal, with the remaining two per cent paid under a future deal.

However, only one per cent for local bargaining is committed to in this new public sector pay deal, meaning teachers do not know when they will receive their remaining one per cent out of the total 3 per cent agreed.

In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) said they are seeking “urgent clarification” from the department on the previously agreed local bargaining pay increases.

“The teacher unions are seeking confirmation from the Department of Education and Youth as to the date on which the outstanding 1 per cent will be paid, in order to ensure full compliance with the commitments made under the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Implementation Support Measures agreement,” the statement said.

Linda Kelly, general secretary of the ASTI, said the implementation of the new senior cycle curriculum was “by far the most significant challenge facing teachers and schools in recent decades”.

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It was therefore “vital” that the department delivered “on its commitments to teachers and their unions”, Kelly said.

“The text of the current proposals is very concerning. Teachers have a clear expectation with regard to the outstanding 1 per cent and they need absolute clarity on how the commitments made under the Senior Cycle Redevelopment agreement will be honoured in full,” Kelly said.

TUI general secretary Michael Gillespie said both the Department of Education and the Department of Public Expenditure “must provide absolute clarity without delay on the date on which the outstanding 1 per cent under local bargaining will be paid”.

“This is essential to ensure that the commitments made to teachers under the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Implementation Support Measures agreement are honoured in full,” Gillespie said.

The TUI’s executive committee recommended its members accept the new deal on Wednesday night, pointing particularly to the benefits it contained for younger workers.

“The proposal is structured to ensure that lower-paid workers will be paid the most. This is absolutely critical in the teaching profession, which has seen a recruitment and retention crisis in recent years,” TUI president Anthony Quinn said in a statement on Wednesday night.

Members of the TUI will be balloted on the proposed agreement in the coming weeks.