Major progress towards pay equality for teachers - campaign continues

By piofficer, Friday, 16th September 2016 | 0 comments

The measures agreed today represent a very significant step in the right direction in addressing the pay inequality suffered by teachers recruited since 1 February 2012. The TUI will continue its campaign until full pay equality is achieved.

The implementation of the revised salary arrangement will be in two phases on 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2018. The effect of this will be to assimilate all post-1 January 2011 and post-1 February 2012 new entrants to teaching onto a single new salary scale which will incorporate the honours primary degree allowance.

When this restoration and other increases payable under the Lansdowne Road Agreement are factored in, there will be a 15% increase in the starting salary of teachers between 31st August 2016 and 1st January 2018 (€31,009 to €35,602).

Today’s breakthrough follows other recent gains secured by the TUI to address the related issues of precarious and low-hour contracts:

  • TUI negotiated a reduction in the qualification period for permanency for teachers to two years, a significant advance on the national, statutory standard of four years.
     
  • As a result of a gain secured by TUI in recent weeks, according to a mandatory schedule, any newly available hours must be offered to teachers on part-time hours in the first instance. This is significant, as in second level schools, TUI estimates that half of teachers under 35 are on contracts of less than full hours.

Following a ballot of members earlier this year, TUI already holds a mandate for industrial action on the issue of pay equality. We have used this mandate to secure these advances through talks and the mandate remains should it be required.

Document 1  - New entrant pay issue and related commitments (Note: The scales in this document do not include other salary increases due under the Lansdowne Road Agreement - €796 (second half of S&S payment) will be added to all points of scale on 1st September 2017, as will an additional increase of €1,000 to each point on the scale on the same date.)

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