The Teachers' Union of Ireland edged closer to industrial action last night as delegates at the annual congress in Tralee voted overwhelmingly for negotiations for a better pay settlement than the 3 per cent offered to "early settlers" under the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF).
Mr Paddy Healy, a former honorary treasurer of the TUI, who proposed the motion, said the 3 per cent - originally offered under the previous pay deal, the Programme for Competitiveness and Work (PCW) - was a totally separate matter to the PPF and could be negotiated separately.
An ICTU public services committee document showed that the 3 per cent award constituted a separate agreement to the PPF and therefore could be rejected separately, he said.
Mr Healy argued that since gardai and nurses had been awarded increases of between 17 and 24 per cent, the 3 per cent pay rise was downgrading teachers.
While admitting that the 3 per cent had been a disappointment, Mr Joe Carolan, outgoing president of the TUI, warned delegates that, if they accepted the motion, industrial action across all sectors of the union would ensue. They would be taking on the Government on pay policy.
It was a major decision, he said. Delegates could accept the terms of the PPF and the 3 per cent or they could go another route and seek increases for early settlers. "You have to decide whether you are ready to take industrial action," he said.
Mr Jim Dorney, general secretary, said the union had voted against the PPF, but had ultimately accepted its terms because the TUI was a member of ICTU.
An endorsement of the motion would be tantamount to saying that the TUI was leaving ICTU, he warned.
Earlier in the day, Mr Dorney had told delegates that while the TUI was seeking to make further gains in teacher pay through the bench-marking process, others were seeking to reopen what was effectively a closed book.
After the motion had been passed, a presidential candidate, Mr Eddie Conlon, told The Irish Times that the fact that the ASTI had left ICTU had created a new dynamic for teachers. The TUI would have to consider what to do next. Negotiating for an increase on the 3 per cent was an issue on which he was campaigning.
There is no doubting the anger of teachers over pay, but yesterday's proceedings were surprisingly subdued. The debate on pay will continue tomorrow.