Teachers' pay row threatens to close schools indefinitely
As mid-term comes to an end and schools return this Monday, members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) have directed their members to withdrawn from supervision and substitution duties from Monday, November 7; while a one-day strike is also schedule for Tuesday.
This move could close hundreds of schools on health and safety grounds, indefinitely, mainly because school managers say there is not enough time to recruit, vet and train supervisors to fill in on yard duty and to take classes.
The ASTI has told members to present for work, regardless of whether their school is open, closed or partially open - even if there are no students attending.
Talks, meanwhile, are set resume on Thursday morning between the ASTI and the Department of Education in a bid to avert further school closures next week.
The president of the ASTI Ed Byrne, however, has said that it is “unlikely” the union will secure an agreement in time to avert the indefinite closure of hundreds of schools following the break.
Around two thirds of schools in the State (507) closed their doors on Thursday of last week as ASTI members staged the first in a series of stoppages over lower pay rates for recently recruited staff.
On that day, reporter Ultan Sherry attended on the picket line of some Cavan schools, which had been shut due to the industrial action by members of staff to find out more about the teachers' issues and demands.
The action by ASTI was over the issue of equal pay for all staff for an equal number of hours of work and caused the closure of over 500 schools nationally, affecting 250,000 pupils. Many teachers this reporter spoke on the picket lines felt it was very unfair that newly graduated teachers have to start on what they see as a low wage, having put in many years of effort into becoming teachers.
“New teachers are doing the same level of work as everybody else and yet they’re paid so little and it’s very unfair,” Evanna Derrick of St Aidan’s Comprehensive Cootehill told The Anglo-Celt.
Ms Derrick explained that any members of staff at the school who started after 2011 were on different levels of pay.
“Some of them were starting on a salary of around €22,000, which is the same as the gardaí. It’s very unfair that after four to five years study that they’re starting on such a low rate,” she commented.
Sorted
One teacher affected by this dispute is Darren Fahey, who teaches at the Royal School in Cavan Town.
“I’m lucky enough in that I nearly have full hours here, but it is only a contract until June - but then after that, I don’t know where I stand,” he told the Celt. “I’m hoping this can be sorted in the short term. Even if there’s progress made for the future, that’ll be one step in the right direction,” he added.
In response, the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, stated that he was disappointed that the ASTI members had gone ahead with their strike action.
He declined to explicitly support the principle of equal pay for equal work, but said that everything that government did in matters such as these was all about equality.