Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE GENERAL SECRETARY of the TUI has said the Government will be unable to regain the trust of the union if it attempts to defer the restoration of payments to teachers.
Speaking to some 400 delegates at the teaching union’s Annual Congress today, John MacGabhainn said members had viewed the industrial relations deal as the “lesser of two evils” and that aspects of it were highly unpalatable.
“With deep misgiving and understandable suspicion, our members decided to trust that [the] government will honour its pledge this time round and will restore the pay cuts according to the schedule set out in the agreement,” MacGabhainn said.
Woe betide government if it again reneges. Trust will then be beyond recall.
He also called for the issue of red tape to be addressed, saying the education system was struggling with increased bureaucratisation.
Cuts
And he said that while Budget 2014 was less severe than those in previous years, it had still been damaging to the sector.
“The provision in Budget 2013 for a cut in the pupil teacher ratio at Further Education/PLC, took effect from September last and has resulted in course curtailment and the loss of hours and jobs by teachers on fixed-term contracts,” MacGabhainn said.
Similarly, the working through of the cut in ex-quota guidance counselling provision is now having a significant negative impact on the capacity of schools to deal, in particular, with critical incidence.Cuts also create the climate in which the demand for privatisation flourishes and those who impose the cuts know that.
He also pledged that the union would campaign to have pay-scales for new teachers and lecturers restored, whenever it became appropriate to do so.
At an appropriate time and not too far from now, we in TUI and our colleagues in other unions will have to reinstate the practice of making pay claims.When we do so we must be faithful to our pledge to our new entrants to prioritise the reintegration of the teaching and lecturing scales so that all are on the pre-2011 scale.
Merger
MacGabhainn also argued for the two second levels, the TUI and the ASTI, to form closer ties, and said members would be better served if the two organisations merged.
The TUI chief said it seemed “increasingly illogical, often absurd and certainly wasteful” to have two unions at second level.
At one time a merger of the two would have been impractical and unnecessary. That time, I believe, is past.
He said members in both organisations faced common challenges and threats in the coming years.
“We will, more effectively, see off those threats, meet those challenges and seize those opportunities if we act as one.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The Croke Park agreement was broken by the introduction of the Haddington Road agreement! This should never happened! They Government created a yellow pack in all of the Public Service expecting people to work for little or nothing…..
“Public Service expecting people to work for little or nothing…..” Check out the CSO figures Public sector workers earn 50% more than their counterparts in private jobs.
@Pearce2020
Are you comparing Public Sector Pay with some one who works in a chippy then? The salaries are calculated on the higher earnings in the Public Service. Look at the salaries in the private sector. Richie Boucher for one CEO Bank of Ireland…nobody in the Public Sector earning anything like that obscene amount.
@Maria
You are expecting people in the private sector to work for 66% of your remittance. That must be nice
@Pearce2020
Compare like with like…nobody wanted to work in the Public Sector during the boom times…opting to work in the Private Sector for more money…And now the bedrudgers moan constantly about Public Service. We just can’t win!
@Maria
Bedrudgers, yellow pack. We did compare like with like, it was called benchmarking, somehow I don’t think you’d be in favour of that again, maybe in a few years.
How were the ‘perks’ & ‘job security’…….factored into bench-marking?
@pierce2020
are you serious?? from your comments you seem to have an agenda, many public service workers are on very low earnings and work on hour contracts and have little job security if they are working from pieces of funding that is acquired through funding applications.
at the end of the day it is not helpful to try and resurface this public v private debate, that’s exactly what the government wants…we are all trying to do our best during these difficult times
I have an agenda, it’s not paying 1 cent more in taxation than is completely necessary. Many Public servants do earn very little but if the CSO figures are correct a significant amount must earn a significant amount.
In fairness Public sector workers normally earn 20%-40% more than their private sector counterparts.
David Burke, I work in a hospital lab. I earn substantially less than those on private hospital labs. Please get your facts straight.
I think the important word there Tommy is normally,
I’m gonna go with the data. Your case might be different but in general the public sector is better paid.
Patrick, what perks and job security?
Yes David, go with the data rather than the actual facts.
Remember it wasnt the nurses and teachers who cost this country billions and bankrupted us.
Do you call 55k per year for the average school teacher “yellow pack”…wow such arrogance.
Is this the same Haddington Road agreement that has failed to deliver around €200million in savings in the HSE?
If you compare the public service earnings to the UK,the one stark difference is the level of pay in the public and private UK sectors is near level with just a 3% higher public differencial,in the boom years the PS pay levels here were set to benchmark with the private sector wage levels,now that private sector wages have collapsed and partnership is no more ,the PS wage levels still remain intact,hence the large gap between them,the same goes for earnings, expences, allowances, and pension intitlements by politicians,only they are even more pronounced when compared to the UK.
David Burke, from where I come from. It is not well paid and have no pension at all.
TUI’s first mistake is to trust the government. Like a lot of voters in the last election we have learnt that FG and Labour were willing to say anything to get into power and are not to be trusted ever again. Other side of the coin to FF sadly….
They should be calling on all members not to vote fg or labour in local elections to show the government how unhappy they are.
Or people could just open their eyes and think for themselves…
Should have merged years ago. Haddington Road a disgrace. One strong union might have stopped it. Two weak ones certainly couldn’t.
One thing about Haddington rd is that it hammered new comers and the lower paid in order to protect the people at the very top. The wages and perks for the top third of employees in the Public sector are genuinely outrageous, unsustainable and unfair.
seanie, most public servants make less than the average industrial wage. Your claim that the top third are paid an outrageous amunt is simply untrue.
I’ll point out as well that the reason the very highest earners are on such an obscene wage is due to negotiated pay agreements under FF governance, giving similar percentage increases to top earners as the lowest ones.
SeanieRyan your beloved Fianna Fail are in the highest paid third of Public Sector workers and they made sure of that.
You must be a teacher Alan. Irish teachers are overpaid by international standards and public sector overpay is one of the reasons the country is in the mess its in. I would accept a new benchmarking round…one without any union members on the committee where pay would be actually bench-marked to the European equivalent. Any public sector pay rises in the next 10 years will come to the detriment of services.
Were, that is crap about the pay. A lot of the pay is low in the private sector unless you were lucky in certain jobs. It is only certain jobs that are well paid, it does not represent the majority and most do not have pensions. The pay is too high in some areas of the public sector and should be cut down accordingly.
Tinker Taylor, Irish teachers are not overpaid by international standards. Irish teachers teach the SECOND amount of class contact time per year, teach the SECOND largest class sizes, produce ABOVE AVERAGE educational outcomes in most of the OECD key indicators and are the SIXTH highest paid in the EU.
The unions in this country have become toothless establishment lap dogs.
Ah yes It’s just after Easter so it must be a week of moaning and bad manners from the teachers.
“Woe betide” reminds me of bollickings I used to get from teachers!
Some things never change.
“Woe betide” reminds me of the Billy Connolly sketch. Good ol’ Wobie!
C’mon, they’re not exactly earning a fortune.
They are earning plenty
400 teachers don’t get to hold the country to ransom.
While FG and LAB or FF are in power they will destroy education system, from promoting the likes of Eamon Gilmores wife to senior roles on massive salary that she cant do to other abuse aside from cuts. I would love to see something done about political appointments to VEC boards that kind of thing. The guy who tore down a mast near where I am from in West Cork got a prison visiting job in Cavan, you couldn’t make it up. You could go to court for justice and have Joe Costellos sister in law find you guilty!!
So the unions get to break ever agreement ever made with the state (so called productivity improvements which are used to justify giving the union mafia what they want are never realised) but woe betide the state for trying to protect the taxpayer.
Tough luck taxpayer you’re role if to be repeatedly kicked in the teeth by these bloodsucking leeches (and before the inevitable public sector are taxpayers too remarks I’m just to cut you off at the knees now, you’re only a taxpayer if your net economic exchange with the state is as a contributor ie if your salary is from the state and you pay a bit back you’re not a net taxpayer – period!)
Wish I could give you 100 stars for your comment. Pretty much sums up what most in the Private sector feel.
I can see the “Volunteering Spirit” speech, didn’t have much of an effect on, MacGabhainn!
The ‘slush fund o-meter’……just went up a couple of notches!
Maria Dardis – You are a complete & utter flute ! A typical Public Sector clown !
Firstly, the Banking Sector IS NOT the Private Sector as A) it’s almost completely owned by the State & B) no other industry or sector was baled out the the Taxpayer & therefore by implication the Banking Sector is totally different to the Private Sector !
Secondly, the sheer amount of totally useless Public Sector knobs like Pat Neary, John Hurley, Con Horan, Kevin Cardiff, Dermot McCarthy who A) got at least a €500k + tax free pay off & are paid €120k pa for life totally dwarfes all of the Ritchie Bouchers put together ! Don’t even get me started on all the ex-teachers who were part of the Fianna Fáil cabal who put us in the current sh1t, all of whom are on pensions of circa €110k pa !!!
Thirdly, the currrent Head of the NTMA who is a career civil servant is currently paid a salary of €1m pa plus extensive perks. So much for your assertion that the Public Sector doesn’t get near the Ritchie Boucher type pay
You & the rest of the public sector can just go & F**K O*F !!!
Charming language who ever you are???
Were Anglo/AIB/BOI in the public sector banks when they were handing out loans to people who could never afford to pay them back?? Were building developers public sector building developers?? Sure, there are those in the public sector who were asleep at the wheel or wilfully driving the country of a cliff. Teachers, nurses, Gardai, lab assisttants were not responsible for that. A little perspective would be good.
“Woe betide you” Mrs Gurhy 3rd class Eglantine NS – About 30 years ago
have your say