Opposition to the benchmarking report among teachers is expected to intensify after a senior TUI figure called on the profession to reject it.
Mr Eddie Conlon, an influential figure on the TUI executive, says the 13 per cent award is much smaller than expected. He also claims teachers will be forced to accept major changes in working conditions in return for the award.
Mr Conlon says the impression has been given that the TUI is happy with the award. "The only public statement which has registered is the statement by the general secretary [Mr Jim Dorney] that the report vindicated our involvement in the \ process. This comment. . . has not been balanced in any way by our concerns about the outcome of benchmarking."
In a briefing document for the TUI executive, Mr Conlon says - in the run-up to the benchmarking report - "key people in the union were talking about a bottom line of 20 per cent".
He continues: "Our job is not to sell a bad report to our members. But to be clear that it is unacceptable and has to be improved. We should be absolutely clear that we will not accept changed working conditions."
Meanwhile, talks on pension payments for supervision work broke down yesterday without agreement. The unions - the TUI and the INTO - have now requested a facilitator from the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). Mr Tom Pomphrett from the LRC will begin work shortly.
The talks have been dominated by technical discussions about how the supervision allowance, worth about €1,400 per year to teachers, can be made fully pensionable when it is not compulsory. Teachers can opt in or opt out of the work on a yearly basis. Sources said yesterday that the current difficulties in the talks would be overcome within the next week.
The ASTI, which has had a ban on supervision work in place since last March, is not a party to the talks. A small number of teachers have opted to defy the union by signing up for supervision. But most members are continuing to comply with the ban, despite the €37 per hour available for the work.
ASTI has convened a special convention for October 19th in Dublin. This will decide the union's future strategy on the supervision issue and the benchmarking report.