Education in the North –an update

national | worker & community struggles and protests | opinion/analysis

Tuesday September 28, 2004 12:15

by Al - Organise!

Education in the North –an update

End of Industrial Action

Following a meeting between the main teachers’ unions and Education Minister Barry Gardiner, industrial action which had hoped to bring about teachers’ 2002 pay parity claim has now officially ended.

Pay parity with teachers in Britain will now not be back-dated but will come into force from September 1st 2005. Across the north, 13,500 teachers will lose out.

Adding insult to injury, trade unions received confirmation of the Performance Review Staff Development Scheme (PRSDS) – the introduction of performance-related pay which will mean greater bureaucracy, more administration and heavier workloads.

About PRSDS

Performance-related pay will, as in Britain, create a two tier system of payments and engender a climate of snooping, mistrust and favouritism in schools. PRSDS will in turn lead to greater individualism, and less teamwork apart from it being virtually impossible to identify which teacher, or set of teachers, has contributed to a pupil’s progress. In Britain, there has been no sign that PRSDS has enhanced teaching or learning standards.

Trade Union Unity?

Last Saturday, the INTO organised a ‘Central Committee meeting’ (Printout, September 2004, INTO) in the plush surroundings of the Ramada Hotel, Belfast, as a response to the failed industrial action and the implementation of performance-related pay. The meeting was free to INTO members, but £25 to non-members. This is hardly inducive to those teachers in other trade unions (ATL, NASUWT and UTU) who might have wished to attend. Frank Bunting (Northern Secretary of INTO) can say ‘the unity and spirit of the teachers’ unions remains undaunted’ (Printout) as long as this unity and spirit does not have to be translated into any action! One of the reasons why industrial action in the north fails is because of the lack of unity in the trade unions (the INTO were the only union to oppose PRSDS).

Educational Workers Network

It is clear that educational workers in Ireland need a network of support that crosses all barriers: those of religion, type of trade, membership of trade unions, and which can build up broad-based support in our communities. Recently, Education and Library Board staff in the north have threatened industrial action against the government’s block on pay awards. Thousand of UNISON members, including classroom assistants, caretakers and clerical workers, are willing to go on strike over the issue. Let us hope a network can be set up in time to support their action.

Article on Educational Workers Network
http://flag.blackened.net/infohub/organise/content.php?article.11.8

Debate on Education
http://flag.blackened.net/infohub/organise/forum_viewtopic.php?3.8