The Department of Education and Skills held discussions with the ASTI today in relation to issues of concern. This follows on from a previous meeting between the Department and the ASTI on Monday of this week, and a further meeting regarding the reform of the junior cycle on Tuesday of this week.
At today’s meeting the ASTI indicated that tomorrow’s (Thursday) industrial action will proceed. As such widespread school closures will now take place tomorrow.
Both sides agreed that talks should continue, and agreed to re-establish contact on Friday, with a view to agreeing a series of further engagements next week.
The School Management bodies have informed the Department of Education and Skills that 507 schools out of 735 will close tomorrow, with 228 remaining open.
The Minister said:
“I am disappointed by the decision of the ASTI to take industrial action which will close schools unnecessarily tomorrow. There is a deal on offer to ASTI which would see pay increases of 15% and 22% for new entrant teachers, with further benefits in terms of working conditions, and a route to further possible improvements after that through the Public Pay Commission.”
“It would not be equal or fair for us to conclude sectoral deals with particular groups of public servants to the exclusion of other groups of public servants. To do so would also mean that we do not have the money left in the public purse to provide increases in social welfare payments for vulnerable groups, tax reductions for people at work, or investments in improvements in public services that people rely on, such as the extra 2,500 posts in schools which was announced in the recent Budget.”
Notes to Editor
Schools Closing
The School Management bodies have informed the Department of Education and Skills that 507 schools out of 735 will close tomorrow, with 228 remaining open. The breakdown is as follows:
o Voluntary secondary JMB - 374 closed out of 375, with 1 school remaining open
o Community and & Comprehensive ACCS - 91 closed out of 95, with 4 schools remaining open
o ETB schools - 42 closed out of 265, with 223 remaining open (predominantly TUI Schools)
New Entrant Pay
There is a deal on offer to ASTI which would see pay increases of 15% and 22% for new entrant teachers (details below), with a route to further possible increases after that.
Under the proposed deal for new entrant teachers which is being implemented for the INTO and the TUI and which is potentially on offer to the ASTI:
· The starting pay for new entrant members will increase by 15% between 31 August 2016 and 1 January 2018 (from €31,009 to €35,602).
· An individual member recruited since 1 September 2015 will see a 22% increase in their pay between 31 August 2016 and 1 January 2018 (from €31,009 to €37,723).
The benefits of the Lansdowne Road Agreement are not just for new teachers. Teachers with longer service will benefit as well.
· For example, an existing Teacher with 11 years service who is co-operating with the Lansdowne Road Agreement will see her/his pay increase by 9% from August 2016 to January 2018 – from 45,222 to 49,436. This includes salary increases worth 5.7%, rising to a 9% increase when the payment of increment is factored in.
In terms of career earnings, these deals which have been done restore approximately three quarters of the reductions for new entrants put in place since 2011
As minister Bruton has said, this is an unnecessary dispute. Both issues in the dispute have been dealt with for other unions. We again call on ASTI to engage in meaningful talks in order to resolve the dispute.
Benefits of Lansdowne Road Agreement
In addition to the agreed improvement in pay for new teachers, the following benefits apply to teachers covered by the Lansdowne Road Agreement:
• Avoiding a 2 year increment freeze;
• Addition of the S&S allowance of €1,592 into the teacher pay scale;
• The Ward Report measures and a revised sequence for filling posts which enable fixed-term and part-time teachers to gain permanent, full-time jobs more easily and quickly than before;
• Continued alleviation of the FEMPI Act pay reductions;
• An increase in the quantum of the Croke Park hours that can be worked on other than a whole-school basis;
• A review of the usage of the Croke Park hours; and
• Protection against compulsory redundancy.
Croke Park Hours– 33 hours per year
The ASTI's decision in July to withdraw from carrying out the Croke Park Hours – 33 hours per year, agreed under the Croke Park agreement, to allow schools to carry out activities like school planning meetings and parent-teacher meetings – had the effect of repudiating the Lansdowne Road Agreement and precipitating the current dispute.
ASTI's decision to withdraw from the Croke Park hours and thereby repudiate the Lansdowne Road Agreement resulted in the Department withdrawing from ASTI members the benefits of the LRA, including additional payment for supervision and substitution – supervising breaktimes, lunchtimes etc.
The Minister has indicated previously that if the ASTI suspend their directive to not work the Croke Park Hours, then his Department would immediately make available the benefits of the Lansdowne Road agreement, including payment for Supervision and Substitution duties.
The Croke Park hours are part of wider productivity measures introduced under the Lansdowne Road Agreement that require all public servants to work additional time for no additional payment.
Across the public services – education, health, local authorities, civil service etc. - the additional time being provided represents about 450,000 additional hours per annum or the equivalent of between 12,000 and 13,000 public service posts. That is a serious productivity benefit for the Exchequer. Replacing those hours would cost hundreds of millions of euro.
Before the Croke Park hours were introduced, these activities ate into tuition time. This meant that schools closed for full days or half days in order to carry them out, causing interruption to tuition and significant inconvenience for parents, as well as child care costs – particularly for primary parents.
In response to teacher concerns regarding the use of the Croke Park hours, the Department agreed with TUI and INTO to carry out a review of their usage. This review, which also involves the school management bodies, began earlier this month.
The review provides for an up-front increase in the quantum of time allowed for planning and development work on other than a whole-school basis. The original Croke Park Agreement provided that all Croke Park hours (36 for primary and 33 for post-primary annually) would be worked on a whole-school basis. The Haddington Road Agreement provided that up to 5 of the hours could be worked on a less than whole-school basis (e.g. small groups of subject teachers). The recent agreement increases this maximum to 8 hours in September 2016 and 10 hours in September 2017.
Contingency Planning
Department officials have remained in regular contact with the school management bodies on contingency arrangements ahead of the withdrawal of supervision and substitution from 7th November. A further meeting with the school management bodies was held on Tuesday 25th October. However, at this stage it remains the case that widespread school closures are expected from the 7th November due to the ASTI’s industrial action and non-cooperation with contingency.
Any roll-out of contingency arrangements necessarily had to await the outcome of the ballot that has been completed by ASTI and any subsequent decisions of the ASTI leadership.
ASTI’s position that they will not cooperate with contingency arrangements will lead to widespread closure of schools from 7th November when ASTI members withdraw from carrying out supervision and substitution duties.