Voting YES for the proposed DES/TUI agreement – which involves being covered by the LRA - will allow the TUI to prosecute to successful conclusion our campaign for pay parity. The Programme for Government is clear in indicating that the matter can be addressed only within a collective agreement, using the soon to be established Public Sector Pay Commission. The relevant collective agreement from 1st July is the LRA.
The TUI has been to the forefront in having the injustice of pay inequality prioritised and brought to public attention. We also addressed the issue in the talks that have just concluded. The Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform advised that, as it affects a number of grades across the public service, they did not have a remit to discuss it in the forum of the talks and that it would require an appropriate forum.
Through the Public Services Committee of the ICTU, the TUI has had the issue prioritised for resolution and the ICTU has committed to achieving pay parity as a matter of urgency. The General Secretary of the ICTU, Patricia King, recently put on public record her view that the multiplicity of pay levels in respect of the same employment/s is untenable and must be resolved through collective agreement. Throughout the recent talks, the TUI had the assistance, as required, of the ICTU and specifically of the General Secretary, Vice-President and the Chair of the Public Services Committee.
The grades affected by the withdrawal of pensionable allowances were Firefighters, Prison Officers, Gardaí and teachers. Very significant progress has recently been made in regard to Firefighters (represented by SIPTU and IMPACT) and there is agreement that the allowance that was discontinued by decision of government in 2012 will be consolidated into their pay scale. This advance was secured only within the context of the LRA.
The TUI is determined to have this precedent applied to teachers, by working with the INTO and with other unions whose members (Prison Officers and Gardaí) are affected. The LRA provides us with a means of doing so. On the other hand, if TUI is not covered by a collective agreement, the mechanism to use the precedent will not be available to us.
Gerry Quinn, President, TUI
John MacGabhann, General Secretary, TUI