EDUCATION: The INTO last night expressed serious concern about errors in the benchmarking report which appeared to cut the length of the teachers' pay scale.
The union had presumed that the long 25-point scale had been cut by two points. But it transpired yesterday that the report had erred by referring to a 23-point scale when in fact the scale remains at 25.
An INTO spokesman last night said the union was "incensed" by the mistake, which was "causing serious difficulties" for the union.
The ASTI general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, also expressed concern about a series of administrative errors by the benchmarking body. It had, he said, also misunderstood some aspects of the respective roles of principals and classroom teachers. In response, the benchmarking body yesterday contacted the Department of Finance to correct the report.
Meanwhile, ASTI members may be given an opportunity to ballot on the benchmarking offer even though the union opted out of the process.
Mr Lennon said yesterday that he thought the union's 17,000 members would like to have an opportunity to give their views on the 13 per cent pay rise recommended for teachers. The INTO and the TUI will ballot members in the autumn on the package. The ASTI executive will meet on Thursday to consider the benchmarking report. Today, it will join the INTO and the TUI at a joint meeting on the report.
The leadership of the INTO and the TUI - who took part in benchmarking - have reacted with cautious optimism to the benchmarking report. But they have also warned that the timetable for phasing in the 13 per cent pay rise will be critical.
Senator Joe O'Toole, the former general secretary of the INTO, who likened benchmarking to an ATM machine, reacted positively to the report. He said that the recommended 13 per cent increase was higher than the teaching unions have gained from any salary review over the past two decades.
Although the offer is well short of the 30 per cent-plus demanded by the teaching unions, the focus is already shifting to the implementation of the award. The teaching unions want a tight timetable for payment, but the Government will want to stretch this out until 2004.
Mr Pat Cahill, incoming vice-president of the ASTI, said that the report required careful consideration and study. An influential figure within the union, he denied weekend reports that he favoured industrial action.
Mr Lennon defended his union's decision not to co-operate with benchmarking. The pressure exerted by the ASTI had forced the Government to pay 25 per cent of the award from last December, he said.
Senator O'Toole said that the fears expressed by some about the process were exaggerated. There was, he said, no performance-related pay and no threat to public service pension entitlements. The demand for co-operation with modernisation was nothing new.