Members of Siptu working in the childcare sector have overwhelmingly rejected pay offers made by two employer groups during talks on new minimum rates for staff.
In a ballot of the union’s membership of about 6,000 in the sector, some 98 per cent of those who participated voted to reject the offers, which both weighted increases for the coming year heavily in favour of higher grades.
Childhood Services Ireland (CSI), an Ibec organisation that mainly represents larger providers, offered increases ranging from 4 per cent for graduate lead educators to 16 per cent for managers.
Those currently on the lowest rates of pay in the sector, which employs about 35,000 people, most of them women, would see their hourly pay increase from €15 to €15.70 under the CSI plan.
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The Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP) proposals provide for an increase to that basic €15 rate of 80 cent, or 5.35 per cent, increasing to 6.35 per cent, or €1.10, for lead educators currently on at least €16 per hour. The highest increases in their proposals are for graduate managers, whose pay would go up by €2.50, or 12.4 per cent.
The Government allocated €45 million to fund pay increases for the year starting September 1st, although the money will be lost on a pro-rata basis if no deal is agreed by then.
The union wants a minimum of a €1 per hour increase for all grades, something the Department of Children has said would cost €38.5 million, with the allocation of the remaining €6.5 million up for negotiation.
Siptu argues that the CSI and FECP proposals would not account for the full €45 million, and so would result in money allocated to the sector by Government being returned.
The debate comes as both employer groups have argued the level of Government funding is insufficient to maintain the viability of services, with both suggesting there should be more flexibility on fees that are frozen under the terms of the Core Funding scheme, the primary system for providing public support for the operation of services.
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In a circular sent to members last month, the FECP, which represents a large number of smaller chains and standalone services, denied the €45 million covered the anticipated cost of the increases, and said: “If Government wants higher pay, it has two choices. It can fully fund those increases, or it can allow providers to generate the income needed to pay them. What it cannot do is require businesses to spend more while preventing them from earning more.”
On Monday, Siptu head of strategic organising and campaigns Darragh O’Connor said low pay continued to be a huge issue in the sector, and “we have members who are managers saying they couldn’t look their staff in the eye if they got twice or three times their pay increase”.
The union has called for all of the parties to return to talks.
