Teachers plan strikes as rest of public sector watches

In what is effectively a major challenge to Ireland's current national wage agreement in the public sector, one of Ireland's three teaching trade unions was due to hold a one-day strike on 14 November 2000, followed by further action.

In October 2000, the Association of Secondary Teachers (ASTI) issued a strike notice over a claim for a 30% pay increase. It plans one-day strikes on 14 November and 6 December 2000, as well as withdrawal of schoolyard supervision and cover for absent colleagues on 16, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30 November – a move which is likely to force the shutdown of schools on those days as well.

ASTI represents about 16,000 teachers in 620 secondary schools around Ireland. The strike would not affect primary schools, while 260 secondary schools staffed exclusively by members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) would remain open. However, about 60 secondary schools with teachers in both unions are also likely to be closed.

ASTI has been pushing its 30% pay claim since January 2000, when it left the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) (IE0005212N) - a move which freed it to pursue claims outside the current national wage agreement, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF) (IE0003149F), agreed in February 2000. The PPF provides for a 15% pay increase over three years and an immediate 3% "early settlers" increase available to some public sector groups (IE0002206N). Strictly speaking, ASTI's 30% claim is outside the scope of the PPF, rather than inclusive of it or over and above it. However, ASTI members have already been paid the first instalment of the PPF increase when it fell due on 1 October 2000, along with all other teachers, as the three teachers' trade unions (the Irish National Teachers' Organisation being the third) are on a common pay scale.

Talks aimed at heading off the strike action took place on 1 November, but broke up without agreement. The government stuck to its position that all that was available to the teachers was the 18% under the PPF and "early settlers" deals, as well as the "benchmarking" process available to all public sector groups. This benchmarking process seeks to compare key public sector groups with pay movements in the private sector, and recommend pay increases for individual public sector groups accordingly. The body responsible is to report in June 2002, with implementation of the pay increases to follow from June 2003, the end date for the PPF in the public sector. A "fast-forwarding" of this process has been suggested by some as a way of addressing the ASTI claim within the PPF. However, the size of the task facing the body set up to carry out the benchmarking process may mean serious practical difficulties with this, even if the political will were there.

Meanwhile, TUI may decide to ballot its members on industrial action after 10 November 2000, if no move has been made on dealing with the effects of inflation on pay (IE0010159F) or on the "fast-forwarding" of benchmarking.