Teachers demand pay review as inflation continues to wipe out increases

TEACHERS have repeated their calls for a review of the latest pay deal as inflation continues to erode the increases granted to public servants.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) said the pre-election frenzy has clouded the fact that the annual inflation rate, at 5.1% in March and April, is far higher than the Towards 2016 pay deal, which sees 4.6% annual increases over 27 months .

With talks on a successor social partnership deal not likely to begin for around another year, a number of public service unions have already sought a review of the pay increases.

TUI general secretary Jim Dorney said workers, including his union’s 14,000 members, are feeling the pinch as cost of living rises are outstripping their wage hikes.

“When inflation went up unexpectedly in the past, the wage agreement at the time was revisited, so there’s no reason it can’t be done this time,” he said.

“The delegates at our annual congress last month were angry that teachers are still making productivity changes even though their spending power is being reduced.”

The issue was also raised by delegates at the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) annual convention at Easter, after an emergency motion was passed seeking the deal to be renegotiated.

Their concerns and those of a number of other unions have been raised with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), whose general secretary David Begg discussed the difficulties caused by rising inflation at a recent meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

He has also said the matter is likely to be at the centre of debate at the ICTU biennial conference in early July if the rise in inflation continues.

Teachers are one of the largest groups of public servants awaiting the outcome of the deliberations of the public service benchmarking body. It is expected to make recommendations on various pay hikes for workers in different sectors of the public service in early autumn.

The TUI, ASTI and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation made a joint submission to the benchmarking body last year, seeking a 10% increase on the common pay scale for primary and second level teachers.