No recommendation from INTO on how members should vote

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation executive has decided not to issue a recommendation to its 32,000 members on whether to vote to accept or reject the €1bn in savings being sought under Croke Park II.

The INTO executive’s decision is highly significant, not least since the union’s general secretary, Sheila Nunan, was one of the key negotiators of the terms which emerged from the Labour Relations Commission.

“The executive recognised the significant potential gains for newly- qualified teachers who have already had pay cuts imposed over the last two years,” a spokesman said.

“However, all teachers are affected by the draft proposals which include changes to increments, the loss of supervision allowance, and the financial impact for members earning over €65,000.”

If its members were to vote against the agreement, it would make it even harder for the deal to be passed when it comes to the overall Irish Congress of Trade Unions vote in April.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (40,000 members), the Civil Public and Services Union (12,000), the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants (2,700), Irish Federation of University Teachers (2,000), and Teachers Union of Ireland (15,000) have all advised members to vote down the proposals.

That means unions representing more than 71,000 public sector workers are on course to reject the deal at this stage. Only Impact (60,000) and the Public Service Executive Union (10,000) have so far advised their members to vote in favour.

The net effect is that the position adopted by the Siptu executive when it meets next week could be crucial to the survival of the deal.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has said contractors in the department’s special delivery unit will be subject to reductions in the value of their contracts in line with the cuts made under Croke Park II.

Yesterday morning, it was reported the contractors, some of whom earn over €150,000, would be exempt.

However, in the afternoon, the department issued a statement in which it said “all people working in the public service, full-time employees or contractors, must share the burden that the country now has to bear”.

“Should Croke Park II be accepted, then similar reductions of a proportionate nature will be sought from others through other mechanisms.”

It also emerged yesterday that, as an incentive to reduce staff numbers, public servants who retire before the middle of 2014 will be able to do so on their pre-cut salary levels.

Furthermore, firefighters are to retain the “totality” of their pay structure, and prison officers and prison officers will not face cuts to premium payments due to savings already made in those areas.

Nurses and gardaí still face losing a percentage of their premium payments for working twilights and Sunday shifts.