This pay deal was to be the payback agreement. After years of wage restraint teachers were to be rewarded for their vast contribution to creating the Celtic Tiger. Our unions had three objectives going into the talks: substantial basic increases; settlement of the "early settler" claim outside of the terms of the new agreement and provision for a pay review with the outcome to be paid as part of the agreement. None of these objectives has been achieved.
Teachers should be insulted by what's on offer:
Pay increases barely ahead of inflation. No sooner was the ink dry when the basic increases were almost eroded by rising inflation. Young teachers are locked out of the housing market. While Joe O'Toole points to the general review clause in the agreement, there is absolutely no commitment from the Government to give bigger increases in line with escalating inflation.
The promise of 10 per cent from tax changes. Given that there is no detail in the agreement and that most of the tax benefits will be directed to the lower paid, nobody can say for sure what the benefit will be to teachers. No teacher will be 29 per cent better off as a result of this deal.
And there's more:
The final 4 per cent is not guaranteed as it is linked to the introduction of performance management. That is setting a dangerous precedent for the future.
Future special increases will be based on benchmarking our jobs with jobs in the private sector. We will come under pressure to trade hours, extra duties and holidays for pay increases. The principle of linking pay to performance is central to this agreement. The abolition of relativities is a great victory for the Government.
The 3 per cent "early settler" payment leaves us well behind awards to other public sector workers. By accepting this we are accepting that our valuable contribution to society is worth much less than that of nurses, guards etc and are giving up our right to pursue this claim further. We are told this is the best on offer. It is a measure of the weakness of our leaders that they could not do better with current economic conditions. Rejection of this deal will mean they will go back for more with the current offer as the bottom line. If a deal does not emerge we will be free to pursue real wage increases. If shopworkers are confident that they can do better outside of national agreements, there is no reason why well-organised teachers, working together through their three unions, should not be confident too.
TI has already rejected national agreements. This deal is in trouble in the INTO. TUI members should not be the people to put a brake on the demand for better pay.
Eddie Conlon is a TUI executive member and spokesperson for Teachers Against the Partnership deal
