ASTI accepts 21% pay increase

SECONDARY school teachers have ended a four-year dispute by voting to accept a 21% salary increase under the national pay deal.

The ASTI vote follows last month’s decision, after a second ballot, to take up the Government offer of a paid supervision and substitution package.

Under the Sustaining Progress deal, teachers will receive a 7% pay increase over 18 months and a 13% rise as recommended by the public service benchmarking report. Over two years, their salaries will rise by 21%.

The 17,000 ASTI members withdrew from the ICTU and refused to take part in the benchmarking review, during its campaign of almost four years for a 30% pay rise.

The acceptance of the pay deal will be a big blow to the more hardline ASTI figures, who were insisting on the 30% increase, ahead of their annual convention in two weeks’ time, However, the union’s leadership has made a commitment to pursue of pay levels to match those of comparable professions.

Only 40% of the membership took part in the benchmarking ballot, but 75% of them approved the deal. It was hammered out in their absence by the wider union movement, including their counterparts in the TUI and the

INTO.

Both these unions, and particularly their second level TUI workmates, may well feel aggrieved at the ASTI now receiving the benefits of their hard work of the last two years.

One senior official said: “It’s like the prodigal son in the parable returning to get the fatted calf. We’re like the other brother who got no special treatment, even though we never strayed.”

Despite this attitude, some ASTI figures believe the 13% awarded to teachers under benchmarking was higher than that made to other professions because of their stance. The increase was higher than most other grades of public servants assessed as part of the pay review.

All three teacher unions notified the Department of Education of their acceptance of the Sustaining Progress deal at a meeting of the Teachers Conciliation Council.

Education Minister Noel Dempsey welcomed the ASTI result and said it was time for all sides to progress the modernisation agenda for the education sector as a whole.

Teachers will now be required to agree more flexible arrangements for meetings with parents in evening time. Schools will also be required to agree a standardised school year.

But while Mr Dempsey is justifiably pleased, other problems arising from the dispute remain. Secondary principals and their deputies are anxious to be compensated for keeping schools open for over a year while ASTI members refused to do supervision work. The three main school management bodies support such a claim, which could end up costing taxpayers over €3million.