THE TEACHER union conferences will this week hear demands for an escalation of industrial action – including more school closures – as opposition to the proposed public service reform and pay deal intensifies.
Minister for Education and Skills Mary Coughlan will this morning underline the Government’s readiness to face down any industrial action. However The Irish Times understands she will also announce some easing of the moratorium on the filling of promotional posts in schools, when she addresses the TUI (Teachers Union of Ireland) conference in Ennis, Co Clare, tomorrow.
Teachers will welcome this move as the moratorium has severely disrupted the management of schools.
The TUI executive has already rejected the proposed public service pay and reform deal while the executive of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) is widely expected to reject it in a vote on Friday. There is speculation that ASTI and TUI radicals could press for possible disruption of the summer exams – but there is limited support for any such move.
Ms Coughlan will address the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation conference this morning, her first high-profile engagement since her appointment.
One senior teaching union leader said last night that he had never seen so much anger among rank-and-file teachers. The pay and pension cuts, the promotions embargo and the Anglo Irish debacle had created, he said, “an explosive and volatile atmosphere. We will see demands for very radical action by teachers this week.”
While some union militants favour “go-it-alone” action by teachers, others say any action should be part of a co-ordinated response by all the main sectors across the public service.
The conferences are likely to see the leadership of the three teaching unions facing sustained criticism from delegates. The leaders of the ASTI, the TUI and the INTO were all party to the public service reform deal.
The INTO however is the only teaching union which has backed the deal and recommended its acceptance by members.
The three teacher unions will ballot members on the proposed new deal later this month.
Last night, Finbar Geaney of TUI – a prominent critic of the proposed deal – claimed rank-and-file members would this week take a first step to reclaim their union.
This week’s conferences will be dominated by issues of pay and conditions.
The INTO president said the Government was forcing ordinary workers to bail out “an elite band of so far untouchable financial joyriders”.