Teachers threatening legal actions if there is not a return of docked pay and insist it’s unfair to be treated differently to nurses
A vocal rank-and-file group of educators also says that strikes could happen imminently unless they get the same sweeteners
TEACHERS are threatening legal action if there is not a return of docked pay and insist it's unfair to be treated differently to nurses.
And a vocal rank-and-file group of educators also says that strikes could happen imminently unless they get the same sweeteners that led to the end of the dispute with nurses.
Fightback is insisting the Government “right the wrongs” which saw their increments frozen when they refused the Croke Park terms - which has left some out of pocket by as much as €1,000.
They are furious at being hit with sanctions for taking industrial action in 2016 while nurses managed to escape any such financial hit when they took to the pickets.
A consecutive three-day strike, that would have seriously affected the health service, was called off on Monday when a last-gasp deal was struck with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
But that agreement has caused further industrial relations headaches for the Cabinet.
And schools could end up being shut down, as a result, leading to serious problems for Leaving Cert students.
Fightback says it is wrong to single out the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland for penalties under the terms of FEMPI, the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act.
Some teachers ended up out of pocket by as much as €1,000 - as they were almost a year behind in getting an increment jump - with the 16,800 ASTI members on average down about €300, or a total of €5million in all.
As a result, there are growing calls for the ASTI to tell the Government to give them back their pay at once, and to explore legal options if they are told No.
Mark Walshe, of Fightback, said: ”One union was punished and one union wasn’t. We support the nurses but that’s not fair.
“We do not want the INMO punished but it is a major inconsistency. And the ASTI needs to approach the Government and tell them to right these wrongs.”
One union was punished and one union wasn’t. We support the nurses but that’s not fair.
On top of being down the back pay, ASTI members remain behind their original due date for increments - as they were never re-set when they gave up their industrial action.
Walshe says this amounts to an ”ongoing punishment”.
The Fightback man told the Irish Sun: “We issued a directive in July 2016 and three days later the Government issued Circular 45 saying FEMPI legislation would apply to members.
“So there is a clear distinction between no punishment for the nurses and immediate punishment for us.
“We assume the union is checking into the legalities of this because this is a loss of earnings and we are still hit by ongoing increment freezes.”
And he revealed the group, a powerful voice within ASTI, also wants the Department of Education to grant similar extras for new teachers as have been granted to nurses - or face the prospect of school closures.
Mr Walshe said: “The other issue is new entrants’ pay. Now it seems the nurses were able to get some modifications.
"So the union I assume will be looking at what modifications the nurses got and what modifications we can get.
“The Fightback position is - if the Government are not forthcoming in the next couple of days - it will be time to ballot for strike action, along with the INTO who have been talking about balloting.
“This is on foot not just of the nurses but on us rejecting the new entrants’ pay terms. The ASTI is prepared to ballot as long as the INTO does too.”
MOST READ IN NEWS
And he added: “All the FEMPI penalties need to be lifted and people need to be restored back to their original increment dates.
"And any loss of earnings should be restored because it was withheld with emergency legislation which we now discovered did not have to be implemented.
"What we want out of this is the righting of wrongs.”