Teachers' Union of Ireland delegates yesterday backed two motions opposing changes to their working conditions in return for cost-of-living pay increases, with some suggesting the union ought to leave the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu).
The TUI is unhappy that changes of conditions of service specific to TUI members were included in the recent Towards 2016 partnership agreement.
Speakers criticised the fact that these changes were accepted by a vote of the entire trade union membership of the State, despite the fact that TUI members voted by a 3:1 ratio to reject the changes.
After a keenly-contested debate about the TUI's future in the Ictu, delegates voted by a narrow margin to accept a motion calling on the TUI to work with the Ictu to improve pay negotiation methods. However, in a separate motion, the TUI passed an amendment reminding the Ictu "clearly and unambiguously" that in three national wage agreements it had overridden the ballots of TUI members against a worsening of their conditions of service.
The amendment also warned the Ictu "that a decision to withdraw from the Ictu organisation might have to be taken". Tony Deffely of the TUI national executive said the fact that other members of the Ictu could decide on the specific conditions of services of TUI members was "brutally and blatantly unfair".
Some members advocated withdrawal from the Ictu. Paul Glynn of the Co Wexford branch said the Ictu had effectively become an arm of the State designed to keep workers in line.
Eddie Conlon said TUI general secretary Jim Dorney's address to members had not reflected the anger in the union in relation to the national pay agreement. "People say there is no alternative," he said. "The alternative is what the nurses are doing. The alternative is real." He said TUI members should not enter a process if they can't control the outcome. "We're being asked to put our contract of employment on the table for a pay increase that does not cover the cost of inflation."
"The feeling today is that Ictu is not the place for the TUI," Brian McGivern of the Donegal branch told the conference. "They have sold us down the river time and time again." Former TUI president Paddy Healy said it would be wrong to talk about leaving the Ictu, while current president Tim O'Meara said they had signed it reluctantly because they felt they needed to be involved in negotiations.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin, who addressed the conference yesterday, said there was no question of renegotiating social partnership agreements for any individual group, but that the benchmarking process this year would enable teachers' unions to make proposals for their interests.