Link to proposed Department of Education and Skills/TUI agreement
Note on issue of new entrant pay
Background to proposed Department of Education and Skills/TUI agreement of May 2016
In October 2015, TUI members voted not to accept the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA).
The union identified a number of issues of key concern to members that had not been addressed in the LRA and decided to ballot members in relation to a campaign to address these issues.
In December 2015, TUI members in Institutes of Technology voted to engage in a campaign of industrial action, up to and including strike action, to secure a fair and sustainable resolution to a number of crisis issues not addressed by the LRA, such as underfunding, understaffing and the precarious employment status of many academic staff. A day's strike action was taken by TUI members in the Institutes on February 3rd 2016.
In January 2016, members in the Second Level, Further/Adult Education and Youthreach sectors also voted to engage in a campaign of industrial action to secure a fair and sustainable resolution to crisis issues not addressed in the LRA. Of key concern in these sectors were the precarious employment status and income poverty of new and recent entrants to the profession and the continuing, damaging effects of cutbacks on the service provided to students. A strike day for members in these sectors was scheduled for February 24th unless the union’s request for meaningful engagement on the key issues of concern in all sectors were addressed.
On February 12th the Minister for Education and Skills offered the union meaningful engagement. Therefore, the Executive Committee decided to postpone the planned strike day in order to allow that engagement to take place.
An intensive series of meetings between the union and the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) ensued. This process of engagement has resulted in the proposed Department of Education and Skills/TUI agreement of May 2016.
Ballot of members/Department of Education and Skills/TUI proposed agreement
TUI’s Executive Committee has decided to recommend that members vote to accept the proposed Department of Education and Skills/TUI agreement of 2016 - click here to download - which addresses a number of issues of key concern to TUI members. These are issues which had not been addressed by the LRA.
Effectively, acceptance of the proposed agreement would mean that TUI members would continue to co-operate with and not to repudiate the relevant collective agreements. The Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) expires on 30th June 2016. Therefore, from 1st July 2016, the only relevant collective agreement that will apply will be the LRA.
In summary, if the proposal is accepted, TUI members will be covered by the LRA from 1st July 2016.
The proposed Department of Education and Skills/TUI agreement covers issues such as lecturing workload in Institutes of Technology, casualisation, the usage of the ‘Croke Park’ hours at post-primary and issues in Further Education.
In addition, the crisis regarding new entrant pay remains a critical priority of TUI. It has been clarified that being covered by a collective agreement such as the LRA would allow the union to use a precedent set by a recent decision to consolidate an allowance previously paid to firefighters into their pay scale. The DPER acknowledges that this development has clear precedent for other grades covered by the LRA, including teachers. A note in relation to the issue of new entrant pay can be accessed at this link.
The Executive Committee has also decided in relation to a concurrent ballot, to recommend that, in the event that the proposed Department of Education and Skills/TUI agreement is not accepted, members vote to engage in industrial action, up to and including strike action, and encompassing withdrawal from productivity commitments which arose under the Croke Park Agreement and the Haddington Road Agreement.
A ballot of members on this proposed agreement will take place before the end of May with ballot papers issuing next week. A special edition of TUI News will issue in advance of ballot papers being sent to all TUI workplaces.
This special edition will set out the significant consequences both of accepting and not accepting the proposed Department of Education and Skills/TUI agreement.
The Executive Committee recommends that meetings of Branches and Workplace Committees be convened wherever possible. Area Representatives or TUI Officials will attend these meetings if possible.