Education minister pledges 'further action' on second-level pay

Minister for Education Norma Foley at the TUI annual congress. Picture: Tommy Clancy

Education Minister Norma Foley has pledged to make “further progress” on pay issues in the second-level sector over the course of the Government’s lifetime.

Over the past decade, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has consistently campaigned against pay inequality, which sees teachers appointed after 2011 being paid less than their colleagues.

The union said “significant progress” had been made in reducing the pay gap in recent years, from more than half a million euro over the course of a career, to €80,000. 

However, this is still “€80,000 too much”, the union added.

Speaking at TUI’s congress on Wednesday, Ms Foley said under the new national pay agreement, Building Momentum, an additional increment skip is provided for new-entrant teachers.

The agreement is being implemented and teachers will start to benefit by the summer, she said.

“Notwithstanding this agreement, I recognise that many of you would like to see further action on pay and I can reassure you that this government remains committed to making further progress over its term,” she said.

Ms Foley said 'intensive engagement' is beginning on the sectoral bargaining aspect of the new pay agreement.

“The department will be engaging directly with the TUI on some of the issues that they wish to see advanced. This is an area where I believe we can make progress over the coming weeks,” she added. 

The €906m deal provides for pay increases of 1% next October — or €500, whichever is greater — and a further 1% in October 2022.

The equivalent of another 1% will be earmarked for sectoral bargaining to deal with awards and claims in particular parts of the public service. Alternatively, it could be used to increase pay for all in a particular sector.

In response to the minister, union president Martin Marjoram said pay inequity for those entering teaching was “an act of vandalism against the profession”. 

Mr Marjoram said about 40% of second-level TUI members are affected by the disparity, resulting in "undermined morale", limited mortgage options, and their professionalism being "undervalued and degraded" when compared to their colleagues.

“These teachers up and down the country are the foundation on which the next several decades of Irish education rests.” 

Mr Marjoram said the new pay agreement is 'not enough to close the remaining gap', adding that the profession will suffer if it is not addressed.

“We believe this issue, and all of our research … points to the direct connection between this inequality and the recruitment and retention crisis in our post-primary schools,” he said.

“We do not believe the teacher supply action plan can address that crisis unless that pay inequality issue is addressed properly.” 

The congress “overwhelmingly” passed a motion to instruct the union’s executive committee to re-commence the programme for industrial action, including strike action, in the event that measures to achieve pay equality are not agreed and put in place in a “timely fashion”.

The motion states the industrial action should re-commence in the third term of the current school year and be sustained and intensified until pay equality is secured.

“If possible, this action will be held in conjunction with the other teacher unions.”