Teachers’ unions vote overwhelmingly to accept public sector pay deal

Two teachers’ unions have voted by large majorities in favour of the new public sector pay deal.

A total of 80 per cent of members of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) voted to accept the revised pay offer while 20 per cent rejected it.

In addition, Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) members voted by a margin of 85 per cent to 15 per cent to accept the proposed offer.

The deal provides for a 6.5 per cent increase in pay between now and October next year. This is in addition to a 2 per cent increase for most public sector workers this year under the existing Building Momentum deal.

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Other unions across the pubic sector are currently balloting members.

The result of ballots by all unions across the public service will be aggregated at a meeting of Ictu’s public services committee on Friday next, October 7th.

The INTO’s executive had urged members to accept the pay deal, while the TUI’s executive issued the ballot without recommendation.

Responding to the result, INTO general secretary John Boyle said union leaders secured an agreement which members welcomed on the basis that it will provide “significant salary increases and pay certainty”.

“Additionally, the non-pay measures announced on Budget day will assist in alleviating some of the financial pressures being experienced by members and their families,” he said.

“We will continue to carefully monitor the cost of living in the next six months. We will be determined to ensure that any successor agreement negotiated after Easter addresses outstanding union claims and further improves the pay and conditions of our members, who always give their utmost to provide the highest quality learning experiences in our primary and special schools.”

The 6.5 per cent increase includes three phases of pay increases.

The first is a 3 per cent increase this year, backdated to February 2nd this year. The second is a 2 per cent increase from March 1st, 2023, while the third is another 1.5 per cent increase — or a minimum of €750 — from October 1st next year.

Under the existing Building Momentum deal, teachers’ unions opted to use 1 per cent of the pay increase under the existing Building Momentum deal for sectoral bargaining purposes.

In the INTO’s case, the bulk of these funds went towards boosting the salaries of primary principals and deputies, while in TUI’s case it went largely towards restoring the HDip allowance for teachers hired over the past decade or so.