Teachers warn 'serious erosion of our standard of living' is threatening industrial harmony

Joe McKeown (right), president of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation speaking to delegates at the union's annual congress in Killarney on Monday. He warned pay increases alone will not solve teachers' issues. Picture: Moya Nolan

Record inflation and worsening living standards are threatening industrial harmony, teachers' unions are warning.

Hundreds of teachers will this week meet for the first in-person annual congresses since 2019, with the spiralling cost of living topping the agenda. They are seeking pay increases to match inflation, warning many teachers are unable to secure mortgages or pay rent on current salaries.

Education Minister Norma Foley will address teachers at two of the annual conferences on Tuesday for the first time in person since she was appointed minister in the summer of 2020.

Unions point to the high cost of living, the ongoing housing crisis, and unsustainable and limited rent options as key factors impacting recruitment and retention in the profession.

On Tuesday, the country's largest teachers' union will debate an emergency motion for the next public pay deal to address "the decline in the real incomes of public servants as a result of inflation". The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) congress will also hear calls for measures to stabilise the current pay deal "by addressing the unexpected increase in living costs".

ASTI motion

Similar cost-of-living motions are also to be debated at the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) congress in Cork, and at the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) congress in Wexford.

A motion before the ASTI congress will hear calls for the union to demand pay increases in line with inflation as part of the negotiations on the successor to the current public pay deal.

ASTI delegates will also consider if the union should ballot its members on undertaking industrial action in September unless one common pay scale for all teachers is established. The motion also calls for pay rises to counter increased costs of living, the full repayment of monies lost to teachers for increments imposed by Fempi, and the end of unpaid work carried out under the Croke Park and Haddington Road Agreements.

Who will teach our children?

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris will address the TUI, which also represents 4,500 staff at third level, on Tuesday. Opening the conference on Monday, Joe McKeown, INTO president, said teachers were standing together to pursue “proper pay increases”. 

The serious erosion of our standard of living caused by the recent increase in inflation has to be addressed urgently if industrial harmony is to continue.

He also warned pay increases alone would not solve the issues.

Owning the roof over your head should not be an impossible dream for the vast majority of citizens. No recently qualified teacher can now reasonably expect to be able to afford to buy a house in most parts of Ireland. For many, even rented accommodation is out of reach. 

"Unless we address this critical issue, we will see another exodus of our young and talented teachers as they seek out destinations where their reasonable aspirations are more likely to be realised. Who will teach our children then?”