TEACHERS’ take-home pay has been cut by up to 19 per cent in the past year, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) claimed yesterday.
The union, which will soon announce plans to combat the cuts, said the full extent of pay cuts would be felt by more than 50,000 teachers when schools reopen this week. It claimed the cuts in take-home pay ranged from 15.2 per cent for a teacher just out of training to nearly 19 per cent for a principal at the top of the scale.
By comparison, it claimed the salary of a worker in the private sector, which was unaffected by the pension levy and public sector pay cut, will have fallen by 4 per cent.
According to the Department of Education, the average primary teacher in the Republic earns around €63,000 per year, one of the highest figures in the OECD.
But unions say the higher cost of living wipes out any pay advantage over other OECD states.
The biggest factor driving increases in teachers’ pay in recent years was the 2002 benchmarking report which recommended a 13 per cent increase. Last night, the INTO said the public sector pay cut and the pension levy would wipe out the benchmarking award.
The second benchmarking report in 2007 did not recommend a further increase for teachers. However, it recommended increases for principal and deputy principal teachers in primary schools, which have not been paid. The cost of this increase for principals was about €8 million with an extra €5.4 million for deputy principals. The failure to pay this award affects more than 6,000 principals and deputy principals at primary level.
Last night, the INTO said it brings the extent of cutbacks for these teachers to more than 20 per cent. It claims the average public servant has suffered reductions in take home-pay three times higher than in the private sector.
It said only 11 per cent of firms in the private sector had reduced pay while 128 firms have so far paid the national wage agreement. Last year, the Government unilaterally suspended payment of the national wage agreement for public servants. Under this agreement 6 per cent was to be paid.
Sheila Nunan, incoming general secretary of the INTO, said the Government was taking back in one year more than benchmarking delivered to primary teachers over a number of years. She said benchmarking was not a one-way street.
“In return for it a totally new curriculum had been introduced with new subjects and new ways of teaching, new forms of public accountability, technology in classrooms, children with special needs integrated and newcomer children accommodated. This was delivered despite substandard buildings, larger classes, and fewer resources than almost any other EU country.”