The State's 45,000 teachers are to receive pay increases ranging from £450 to £840 a year, backdated to July 1st. The increase includes the 2 per cent local bargaining clause of Partnership 2000. This makes teachers the first major group in the public service to conclude a deal with the Government on a productivity-related pay rise under the national agreement.
Confirming that negotiations had concluded, the general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, Senator Joe O'Toole, said that the unions had "made it absolutely clear to the Department of Finance and the Department of Education that, in the event of any other group receiving more than two per cent we will certainly put in another claim".
The Teachers' Union of Ireland general secretary, Mr Jim Dorney, said early agreement on the local bargaining increase did not mean teachers were happy with their treatment as "early settlers" under previous national agreements.
During the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, teachers settled early for 5.5 per cent while "late settlers" such as nurses won increases worth over 15 per cent in overall terms.
Mr Dorney said the two sets of negotiations had been "totally different". Teachers' grievances over the conduct of local bargaining under the PCW and its predecessor, the Programme for Economic and Social Progress, would have to be addressed before the teachers' unions would consider supporting any move by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to agree on a successor to Partnership 2000.
The increase due to members of the TUI, INTO and Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland comprises a 1.5 per cent basic increase due to all public service employees from July 1st and the 2 per cent local bargaining increase also due from that date.
With scales ranging from £15,000 to £29,000 a year the 2 per cent will be worth from £300 to £560 a year. Unlike the local bargaining clause of the PCW, the increase under Partnership 2000 is to be applied evenly across the teachers' scale and on their allowances. It follows talks between the unions and the Department of Education, at which improved productivity was verified. The productivity related to the co-operation of the unions with the Programme for Education, the introduction of Information Technology to schools and other measures.
Teachers comprise the largest single negotiating block in the public service. The conclusion of local bargaining negotiations on schedule will be taken as a good sign by the Department of Finance that there will be no repeat of the protracted talks which created such problems under the PESP and PCW. There is one major remaining legacy from the PCW: nurses' pay. A recommendation from the Labour Court aimed at finally settling that dispute is not expected before the end of August. The reaction of the nursing unions to the recommendation will have a major impact on the attitude of all the public service unions to a successor to Partnership 2000.