Education

Secondary teachers’ to consider strike action unless there is end to pay inequality

TUI: Career earnings gap of up to €80,000 due to lower pay scales, conference hears

This year’s Teachers Union of Ireland annual conference took place online for public health reasons. Photograph: Tommy Clancy

Peter McGuire
Thu Apr 8 2021 - 12:43

Teachers have renewed their call for an end to unequal pay scales, which sees those appointed after 2011 paid less than their colleagues for the same work.

Delegates at the Teachers Union of Ireland’s annual conference agreed that unless to end pay equality are put in place, they would consider strike action. The union previously took a one-day strike action on February 4th, 2020, over the issue.

"The last strike demonstrated true solidarity with our members who suffer the outrage of pay discrimination," said David Waters of the TUI's executive committee.

“We seemed to be making progress last year - before Covid-19 struck. Schools are reaching a crisis point in hiring staff, and pay inequality is at the crux of the issue. The pay discrimination was brought in as a result of the financial crash, but more than ten years have passed.”

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Mr Waters said that the earnings discrepancy had fallen from approximately €500,000 per teacher career to €80,000, but that the gap needed to narrow further.

Karen Gernon, a teacher with the Dublin C&C branch, is on the lower pay scale.

“Last year’s strike action was a success. There was an appetite for change, and while it was stalled by Covid-19, we need to get the momentum going.”

Addressing the conference, Minister for Education Norma Foley said that the new national pay agreement, Building Momentum, would see an additional increment skip for new teachers, helping to close the gap.

“I recognise that many of you would like to see further action on pay and I can reassure you that this Government remains committed to making further progress over its term,” the Minister said. She added that her department will engage directly with the TUI on the issue.

Accredited grades

Ms Foley also said the cooperation of teachers with calculated and accredited grades will not set a precedent requiring teachers to mark their own students as part of any Leaving Cert reforms.

The Minister said that the calculated and accredited grades processes had been adopted in extraordinary circumstances, and she shared their view of the need for “carefully considered” reform of the senior cycle.

“I do want to assure you that the actions the Department of Education took do not represent a fixed precedent for future senior cycle reform,” she said.

“Senior Cycle needs to build on the strengths of what works well now, and it also needs to address the current and future learning needs of all types of learners and schools. Senior cycle arrangements will evolve and change and they need to do so, but in a way that commands the confidence and support of students, teachers, parents and Irish society.”

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is due to submit an advisory report on senior cycle reform later this year.

“I want teachers to be centrally involved in such discussions about the future of senior cycle, as well as students, parents, and broader society,” the Minister said.

Earlier, several delegates at the conference said that it was important to retain nationally certified exams.

“We have been correcting our own exams for two years running and, to say the least, it is not ideal,” said John McEvoy, branch secretary for Laois. “We don’t want this to develop into a pattern or trend, and the three [teaching] unions have to be the watchdogs to ensure that the accountants at the Department of Education don’t abolish the Leaving Cert to save a few pennies.”

Credible

Declan Flanagan, a delegate from Co Longford, said an externally marked Leaving Cert exam was the fairest and most credible system.

Not all delegates agreed, however. Kate Mooney of the Dublin city branch said that Leaving Cert, as it stands, is not fit for purpose. "We know it leaves behind so many of our students. As educators it is for us to ensure we serve our students and their educational outcomes, first and foremost. I think and hope most teachers do want to engage in genuine, meaningful reform, so we should be ready to negotiate and ensure that, if there are changes, they are done properly and with the proper resources put in place."

Audrey Cepeda of the Dublin city branch said that the lockdown was a catalyst to look at real reform of the Leaving Cert.

“We should not rule anything out, including examining our own students. Even students who do well in the exams say how stressful it was, and that it was not fit for purpose,” she said.

“If we were going into talks with the Department of Education, we would not be impressed if they said that certain things were off the table. We should not be hypocritical and we should go in with an open mind.”

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