The Government appears determined to hold a firm line in the face of industrial action by secondary teachers, but seems ready to adopt a more conciliatory stance towards gardaí and doctors who are also pursuing pay claims.
A total of 507 schools in the Republic will be closed on Thursday as members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) stage the first in a series of stoppages over lower pay rates for recently recruited staff.
The Government on Wednesday instructed school authorities to remove from the payroll any teacher who refuses to carry out supervision and substitution duties from Monday week as part of separate ASTI industrial action over penalties imposed on members of the union for “repudiating” the Lansdowne Road pay agreement.
The withdrawal of ASTI members from supervision and substitution duties could force hundreds of schools to close indefinitely once the forthcoming midterm break ends on November 7th.
ASTI on Wednesday night described as “provocative” the move by the Government to remove from the payroll teachers who do not agree to carry out supervision and substitution duties from November 7th.
Teaching duties
It said its members were available for their regular teaching duties, and were withdrawing from supervision and substitution duties because they were not being paid to perform this work.
However, the Government on Wednesday changed its approach to demands by non-consultant hospital doctors for the reintroduction of a €3,000 living-out allowance which was unilaterally abolished for staff appointed since 2012.
The Department of Health and the HSE is to hold talks with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) over a three-week period in November to see if a resolution can be reached. The Government had previously opposed negotiations.
A court case on the issue will go ahead in February if no deal is reached.
The Government is expected to make revised proposals to the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in an attempt to avert the first of four planned 24-hour strikes by its 10,000 members on Friday next week.
Rent allowances
This could involve amending a deal aimed largely at restoring rent allowances worth about €4,000 per annum for gardaí recruited in recent years. Any such updated proposals are likely, according to a number of highly placed Government sources, to be similar to an agreement reached with firefighters a number of months ago. This saw the value of an allowance, abolished for new entrants after 2011, effectively restored and integrated into general pay for the staff concerned.
The executive of the GRA is scheduled to hold a meeting Thursday and it is unclear as to whether any new proposals will be tabled before then.
The Department of Justice has been holding a series of meetings with both the GRA and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) over recent days in an attempt to stave off planned industrial action by members of both organisations.
Members of both the GRA and AGSI are scheduled to stage unprecedented strike action on the four Fridays of November.
