Stray pay memo alarms teachers

Press, 12 November 1985, Page 9

Stray pay memo alarms teachers

A memo about the secondary teachers’ salary claim destined for the Minister of Education, Mr Marshall but inadvertently delivered to the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association, has alarmed the association. The memo and an attached press release were sent from the Education Department.

“The Minister has been asked to release a statement saying that the secondary claim, recognised by him as essential to the avoidance of serious shortages at the start of next year, was being processed with urgency,” said the president of the P.P.T.A., Mr Tony Steele. “But attached to the statement was a memo purporting to represent the negotiating committee’s views which makes it clear that the department and the State Services Commission are recommending delays at

this critical time until the annual general adjustment and margins review (State catch-up payments) are settled,” he said. The P.P.TA. was concerned that the negotiating committee was saying on the one hand that the salary claim was being processed urgently, and on the other recommending delays until the “catch-up” payments for State servants had been negotiated. Mr Steele said the P.P.T.A. had made it clear that the annual general adjustment and the margins review had nothing to do with the secondary claim. It wanted it treated as a separate issue.

Delays would only make the shortages >of teachers next year worse as potential teachers decided “to quit for lack of any meaningful offer from their employers,” he said.

The chairman of the Education Services Committee (the negotiating committee),

Mr Terry O’Brien, said the memo and attached press release were not contradictory. He said that Mr Marshall was not asked to release a press statement but Mr O’Brien’s own press statement was attached.

He said the annual general adjustments and the margins review were running concurrently with the secondary teachers’ pay claim and that it was expected that they would be announced in December. Claims normally took three to four weeks to process, he said, and the claim was not being delayed purposely. Mr O’Brien said the statement said that the Education Services Committee’s position was that no response could be made until the State servants adjustments were announced. Mr O'Brien would not comment on whether the secondary teachers’ pay claim would be delayed longer if the State servants adjustment announcements were delayed.