Resolution of row over parent-teacher meetings in doubt

A DISPUTE which has delayed pay increases to almost 50,000 teachers could be far from resolution despite the matter being due for independent assessment next week.

The row over the times of parent-teacher meetings has brought Education Minister Noel Dempsey’s relations with the ASTI, TUI and INTO unions to an all-time low. It centres around his demand that teachers be available at any time suitable to parents who are unable to attend scheduled meetings.

After failing to reach agreement in two days of talks at the Teachers Conciliation Council earlier this month, the row has been referred to a hearing by the public service arbitration board next Monday. But the determination of the board will not be binding and a senior union source said they would not accept the result if it is unsatisfactory for their members.

The issue of parent-teacher meetings was a central part of the requirements in the Sustaining Progress social partnership deal, which teachers must satisfy to qualify for benchmarking payments. Mr Dempsey has said teachers will not receive the 9.5% increases due this month until agreement is reached.

Section 19.9 of Sustaining Progress states that where a dispute as to what constitutes a breach of the agreement is unresolved by conciliation, it shall be referred to the arbitration board, and both sides shall accept the outcome. However, the latest dispute has been referred under section 19.8, which does not stipulate that the outcome of arbitration should be binding.

There is bitterness among unions at the minister’s demands, given that the partnership agreement says parent/teacher meetings should be held at times convenient to parents and teachers.

“It would be interesting to ask Mr Dempsey if he would make the same arrangement outside his constituency clinic times, to be available to meet any member of the public whenever it’s convenient for them,” a union source said last night.

Meanwhile, the results of a survey asking schools if they stayed open on December 22 and 23 will be sent to the Teachers Conciliation Council next Tuesday, a spokesperson for Mr Dempsey said yesterday.

Unions were outraged last week when the survey arrived in schools, asking whether they had remained open and if all classes were in attendance. A standardised school year was agreed as part of modernisation requirements but some multi-denominational schools indicated they would close for Christmas week and reopen two days earlier in January instead.

Mr Dempsey has said teachers in any school found to have breached the agreement will not receive the pay increases due this month. The matter could be referred for arbitration, but under the clause of social partnership which makes the outcome binding.