Union dispute
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) is currently engaged in battles on several fronts, with issues including Croke Park Hours, pay scales for newly qualified teachers, substitution and junior cycle reform. eolas examines.
On 8 November, an estimated 17,500 post-primary ASTI registered teachers engaged in a second one-day strike action, the stated objective being “equal pay for equal work”. In other words, the teachers’ union was demanding the restoration of a common basic pay scale for all teachers. On the preceding day, schools were closed as a result of withdrawal from substitution and supervision duties.
The Government was adamant that the crux of the dispute lay in the ASTI’s unilateral decision to withdraw from working Croke Park Hours in July 2016. These additional hours comprise one hour per work for the 33 weeks of the school year, in order to facilitate school planning meetings and parent-teacher meetings outside of school hours and therefore minimise disruption.
As a result of this withdrawal, Education Minister Richard Bruton indicated that his Department would withhold from ASTI members the benefits agreed under the Lansdowne Road Agreement, which include additional payment for supervision and substitution. Consequently, ASTI members balloted in favour of an indefinite withdrawal from performing supervision and substitution duties.
A total of 80 per cent of voting ASTI members supported industrial action on the issue of pay equality for new entrants to the profession. At the same time, 78 per cent voted in favour of withdrawal from supervision and substitution duties.
School closure
Following the mid-term break, industrial action forced the closure of over 400 post-primary schools due to health and safety concerns. Attempts by school management teams to source external supervisors as a contingency measure were frustrated by an ASTI directive against school principals cooperating with the plans. Subsequently, management boards, who operate on a voluntary basis, were faced with the prospect of recruiting, hiring and enabling Garda vetting of supervisors. This process requires a timeframe of several weeks and was rendered virtually impossible by the ASTI’s action.
Insinuating that school’s faced closure over a single additional hour of work per week, Taoiseach Enda Kenny stated: “The one hour a week not being worked derives from a unilateral decision made by the ASTI that has affected its own members to their detriment.”
When confronted about pay equality for newly qualified teachers in the Dáil, Kenny responded with his assertion that a way forward had been agreed with the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) in the format of the Lansdowne Road Agreement. Under the terms of the agreement new entrants would see their pay increased by 15 per cent between August 2016 and January 2018, while those recruited since 1 September 2015 would experience a 22 per cent pay increase within the same timeframe.
Speaking at a press conference, prior to the period of mediation talks, Education Minister Richard Bruton stated: “It is bitterly disappointing that this dispute, which is about working one hour a week for 33 weeks, has led to the closure of schools.” He added: “We cannot have a situation where one union in one sector decides it will not work one hour a week. There is a quid-pro-quo. If they return to work, then there are benefits available to them.”
Negotiation
As the situation stands, the ASTI agreed to suspend its directive on supervision, substitution and on strike action in order to facilitate mediation talks with the Government. The talks, which have been assisted by the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC) as arbitrators, are confidential and all participants are refraining from comment during this process. However, after a three-week time-lapse, a document has been prepared to outline the terms of a potential agreement. This paper will then be issued by Anna Perry, Chair of the TCC, for consideration by both parties.
It is anticipated that, in exchange for flexibility over the utilisation of Croke Park Hours and a resumption of supervision and substitution duties, ASTI members will acquire incremental pay rises and a reduction in the wage gap for new entrants. The ASTI had already relaxed its ban on school principals, who are members, from facilitating contingency plans to keep schools open in the likelihood of renewed strike action. Though management boards will still face a significant challenge in ensuring alternative supervision if conciliation efforts fail.
Likewise, any proposals must first be considered by the ASTI’s 23-member standing committee, as well as its 180-member central executive before being offered to the wider membership.
Thus far, the Government has successfully absorbed an upsurge in pressure to initiate talks on a replacement package for the Lansdowne Road Agreement. In the face of Labour Court interventions in the Garda pay dispute, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe insists: “No government could be in a situation that it concludes negotiations on a public service wage agreement, and with the ink nearly dry on it, starts negotiating the next one.” Adding: “It has the duration up to 2018 and we are committed to honouring that agreement.”
