TEACHER UNIONS are split on the public service reform deal in advance of next week’s annual conferences.
Last night the executive of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) voted to recommend acceptance of the deal in a ballot of its 30,000 members after Easter.
However, the executive of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) voted to reject the agreement.
It will also recommend its rejection at its annual conference in Ennis, Co Clare, next week.
The INTO said its executive backed the deal after detailed consideration of the terms of the draft agreement.
It said the executive would engage widely with members through INTO structures, including information meetings, in advance of the ballot.
The agreement will also be discussed at the INTO annual congress next week.
The TUI move to reject the deal was widely expected. While the TUI is regarded as the most radical of the three teaching unions, its decision could make it more difficult for the other main teaching union, the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI), to back the deal.
The TUI move reflects anger among members about the budget changes, which have cut average pay by about 13 per cent.
There is also widespread resentment among teachers about the multibillion-euro bailout of the banks at a time when special needs provision and other school services are being cut back. There is also anger in second-level schools about a ban on promotions.
ASTI is likely to ballot its 18,000 members on the deal, according to general secretary John White yesterday.
The new deal will be considered by ASTI’s 180-member central executive late next week. The executive can only reject the deal with a two-thirds majority.
It is expected the new deal will be put to a ballot next month without a recommendation from the ASTI leadership.
While the new public service deal holds out the possibility of reversing pay cuts, it has also raised concerns among rank-and-file teachers.
Under its terms, teachers will have to work an additional hour per week. The new deal also commits the unions to a review of teaching contracts – to be finalised before September.
This will “identify and remove any impediments to the provision of efficient and effective teaching to students in all sectors”.
From the start of the next school year all teachers must be available for an additional hour per week to facilitate, at the discretion of management, school planning, continuous professional development, induction and substitution and supervision (including supervision immediately before and after school times).
From September, second-level teachers must also be available for three timetabled class periods per week under the supervision and substitution scheme.