Teaching unions to decide on levy stance next week

Unions representing over 50,000 teachers will decide next Monday on a plan of action over the pension levy.

Leaders of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) , the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (Asti) and the Irish Federation of University Teachers ( IFUT) have already signalled that all options – up to and including industrial action – are on the table.

All four unions say they have been inundated with e-mails and phone calls from members angry about the levy.

“The four unions will meet again next Monday and decide what concrete measures we will take in response to this pay cut,” TUI president Don Ryan said this afternoon.

“We are abhorred by recent developments and we are not yet ruling out any measures in response to this imposition on conditions of employment,” he added.

He said his members felt “betrayed and unfairly targeted” by the levy. “There is particular anger that many commentators have chosen to ignore the plain fact that teachers already make a contribution to their pension.”