and THE Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) yesterday reaffirmed its opposition to the Croke Park deal on public service pay and reform. However, it has still to decide on possible industrial action from September.
The union has said it will not be bound by the decision of the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) to back the agreement.
Separately yesterday, the executive of the union representing lower-paid civil servants decided to hold another ballot of members on the Croke Park deal.
At its meeting yesterday the executive of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) also voted narrowly to end a campaign of industrial action which has been under way for the past five months in protest at the Government pay cuts. Members of the union last month voted to reject the Croke Park agreement
The general secretary of the CPSU, Blair Horan, said he had advised his executive yesterday that the Croke Park agreement “was the only game in town”.
TUI general secretary Peter McMenamin said it was the view of his union that “conditions of service should be voted on exclusively by members of the union concerned in an agreement of this nature”.
TUI members voted by a strong majority last month to oppose the Croke Park deal.
The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), which also rejected the deal, will review its campaign against the deal at an executive meeting next week.
Both teaching unions are set to wait until August before deciding on industrial action – over and above the work-to-rule directives already in place.
Primary teachers, members of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), have already lifted their work-to-rule directives after their members voted to back the Croke Park deal.
The Government will hope that an easing of the current ban on filling promotional posts will help to lift the threat of industrial action in schools.
Minister for Education Mary Coughlan is set to signal an easing of the ban – possibly as early as today – after discussions with Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan.
The Department of Finance has agreed to a “limited alleviation” of the ban on filling key middle- management posts in schools. It is likely this will involve a “floor” below which schools will be entitled to fill some vacant posts.
The jobs moratorium triggered a major row with unions, who directed members not to fill in for those who had left their posts or retired.
Mr Horan said the new CPSU ballot on the Croke Park deal would take place in early September.
The executive of the union will make a recommendation to members in relation to the ballot following a consultation process which will take place within the union over the coming weeks.
Although the CPSU called off controversial industrial action which had hit services at the Passport Office a number of weeks ago, the campaign had continued to cause disruption in other areas. In recent times the Immigration Service has been hit by the industrial action.
The provision of answers to thousands of parliamentary questions has also been affected by the dispute.
Mr Horan said the CPSU would attend meetings of the public service negotiating team which was charged with moving along the implementation of the Croke Park agreement.
He did not expect the decision of the CPSU to reballot on the deal would have implications in practical terms for its implementation in other areas.
He said that much of July was expected to be spent on dealing with the nuts and bolts of the implementation, while August was traditionally a quiet month.