15th March 2024
Members of Ireland’s largest teachers’ union, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), have voted by a substantial margin to accept the proposals in the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026 in an electronic ballot of members in the Republic of Ireland.
The union announced the result today (15 March).
- 18,776 members (82%) of voters supported the agreement
- 4,139 members (18%) voted against
- The turnout was 53%
The Central Executive Committee of the union scrutinised the offer negotiated by the ICTU Public Services Committee in January, and issued a formal recommendation to the membership, urging acceptance of the 30-month agreement which is to run until June 2026. An overwhelming majority of members has now voted to accept the proposals.
Responding to the result, INTO General Secretary John Boyle said:
Our members have been under financial strain in recent years due to extremely high living costs. They have recognised that the proposed agreement will significantly increase their purchasing power in the period ahead, thereby narrowing the earnings’ gap that developed in the previous two years.
After two months of painstaking negotiations either side of Christmas the public service committee of ICTU secured an agreement that our members have welcomed, as it will provide significant salary increases including a 2.25% uplift or €1125 (whichever is greater) backdated to 1 January 2024 and pay certainty for the following 30 months. In keeping with the strategy adopted by union negotiators over the last four years, our newest recruits who began teaching last September will receive cumulative increases of 10.75% while the majority of members will see their gross salaries increasing by 9.62% during the lifetime of the agreement.
Additionally, the local bargaining facility within the agreement will provide our union with a €100 million fund (€33 million of which accrues from 1 September 2025).
We are determined to use this fund to make primary teaching as attractive a career as it was before successive governments unilaterally imposed draconian cuts to teachers’ salaries and conditions of service during the austerity era.
We will consult with our members to ascertain which union claims they wish to see the INTO submitting next Summer, so that these priorities are advanced by the start of the 2025/26 school year.
The local bargaining process will be a key aspect of our multi-faceted campaign to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in our primary and special schools.
I want to personally thank every member who participated in this ballot. In a democracy, decisions are made by those who take part and exercise their franchise. Familiarising oneself with the terms of the agreement and engaging with the ballot ensures the wishes of the majority of our members are reflected in important processes relating to their wages and working conditions.
ICTU PSC meeting – aggregate ballot
The results of ballots by all unions across the public service will be aggregated at a meeting of the ICTU Public Services Committee on Monday 25 March. INTO representatives attending the meeting will indicate that our members have strongly supported the ratification of the agreement. The INTO will communicate the outcome of the ICTU aggregate vote on our website on Monday, 25 March.