New public pay deal to be rejected by Teachers Union of Ireland

The executive committee of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has recommended to its almost 20,000 members that it shouldn’t accept the Government’s proposed new public-service agreement.

This is the first public service agreement that has offered pay increases in over ten years. Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath published the details of the draft deal this afternoon.

The proposed agreement will cost €906m over three budgetary years.

The TUI said that when they advised its members to reject the proposal it recognised the severe financial difficulties caused by the pandemic to so many working people.

The union said there is a “recruitment and retention crisis” among secondary-school teachers due to this pay inequality. A survey carried out in over 130 secondary schools earlier this year showing that in the past 12 months, 77% of these schools had advertised positions to which nobody applied.

Even after this proposal the pay discrimination would still occur in the early years of employment.

Those who enter into second level teaching would still earn €6,500, or 15%, less upon appointment than the pay scale prior to 2011 with a loss of €80,000 in career earnings.

Over 19,000 TUI members will be balloted on the proposals in the New Year.

Cabinet approved the draft public pay deal today. Minister McGrath noted that the terms of the proposed public pay deal were the outcome of a negotiation process with Department officials, the Workplace Relations Commission, and unions.

From the Exchequer perspective, these pay adjustments are phased with implementation which will begin later in 2021.

The public service agreement is called ’Building Momentum: A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2022′ .