‘Pay rises not to be linked to demands’

PRIMARY teachers have warned they will not accept productivity demands as a condition of any pay rises at their annual congress yesterday.

The level of opposition to linking salary hikes from the next social partnership agreement to modernisation and flexibility was highlighted when delegates voted only narrowly against restricting union officials from even discussing the matter.

That part of the pay motion debated by Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) members in Killarney yesterday was defeated by 218 to 207.

However, the union will continue in negotiations with a clear mandate not to accept any productivity conditions attached to wage increases. Instead, they must put any such proposals to a ballot of the entire membership.

In the Sustaining Partnership agreement which lapsed at the end of last year, pay awards to teachers were dependent on their fulfilment of modernisation requirements from the Department of Education. These included a standardised school year and the arrangement of parent-teacher meetings outside school hours.

Dublin North West delegate Maria Kildea said it would be unfair to expect productivity concessions to be attached to any pay increases which should reflect increased living costs.

“Recently there have been a number of extra duties assigned to teachers and we already have a certain amount of extra work outside our so-called work hours that isn’t being recognised,” she said.

Former INTO president Austin Corcoran, opposing the section to reject productivity proposals in negotiations, said: “This part of the motion would tie the hands, feet, mouths and minds of the executive at all points in the negotiating process to even resist these dreaded measures, which we have had some success in doing in the past.”