Teachers could take industrial action as INTO accuses Government of blocking unpaid allowances

Approximately 900 delegates in Killarney will debate and discuss key issues, including special education, class sizes, pay, and workload. File picture

The president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has accused the Government of blocking “timely and overdue” claims by unions' to reintroduce a key allowance.

It comes as the Irish primary teachers’ union is set to debate, on Monday evening, whether members should be balloted for industrial action in the coming weeks.

The first day of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) annual congress opened on Monday in Killarney.

Approximately 900 delegates will debate and discuss key issues for the union’s membership in the coming days, including special education, class sizes, pay, and workload.

On Monday, INTO general secretary John Boyle said he expects the union’s members will be balloted for industrial action in the coming weeks. The current public sector pay deal is due to expire in June.

The INTO is unhappy that allowances agreed under the previous public‑sector pay deal — and due for payment last September — have still not been paid, in what Mr Boyle described as a “blatant breach” of the agreement.

“How on earth could they expect our members to support a successor agreement,” Mr Boyle said.

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He said he believes members will be balloted for potential industrial action on several fronts, including pay, after the conference if the local bargaining monies are not paid in the coming weeks.

INTO president Anne Horan told delegates that its members will need “substantial pay settlements” to offset the rise in living costs and the fall in purchasing power ahead of upcoming public pay talks.

The failure of the Government to keep its side of the pay agreement within the local bargaining process does not augur well for forthcoming pay negotiations, she claimed.

"This massive breach of faith has left a very sour taste in the mouths of members who expected their union’s claims to be settled before last September."

Local bargaining clause

In Killarney, ICTU president Phil Ní Sheaghdha said unions have the right to organise and withdraw their labour when the Government doesn’t adhere to agreements.

Together with Siptu and Fórsa, Ms Ní Sheaghdha and Mr Boyle met with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform twice last week to discuss the local bargaining clause.

This clause was a “central” part to the previous public sector agreement, Ms Ní Sheaghdha said, allowing for 1% of payroll to be spent on “progressive” claims.

However, the group faced a “farcical situation” last week discussing a claim that costs 0.06% of the overall budget for the claims. This is to restore a Gaeltacht allowance, worked on jointly by the INTO and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.

“We're not seeing a support that is real and timely for the public services,” she said.

“We're not seeing a support that is real and timely for the public services in order for people who live in this country, who come to live in this country, to have good education and good decent health care.

“Well, then the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform must get off the pitch and stop blocking claims that are simply timely and overdue.” 

• Jess Casey is the Irish Examiner education correspondent