Members of the Teachers Union of Ireland and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland have rejected the Croke Park deal on public service pay and reform, the Irish Times reports.
TUI members voted by a three-to-one margin against the plan. A total of 10,082 valid votes were cast in the ballot with just 2,528 in favor of the proposed agreement and 7,554 against.
The TUI's executive committee and congress had previously urged its members to reject the deal
In a statement issued today the TUI said the principal reason for the rejection of the deal was the open-ended demand for renegotiation of contracts of both second-level teachers and third-level lecturers together with a call for an additional hour to be worked by staff.
Separately, ASTI members voted to reject the plan by 62 per cent to 38 per cent.
"Clearly the ballot results of the second-level teacher unions indicate that a one-size fits all agreement is not appropriate for second level," said ASTI general secretary John White in a statement.
"ASTI members rejected this agreement because they do not wish to have a review of their contracts. In the context of significant pay cuts and a pension levy, members do not accept a review of their contracts which would lead to further impositions upon them," he added.
The union's standing committee welcomed the decision by members to reject the agreement.
Under the proposed deal the Government has given a commitment that there will be no further cuts in public sector pay until 2014 at least.
The unions have agreed to implement extensive reforms in work practices and conditions of employment throughout the entire public service. The deal does not contain specific guarantees on reversing pay cuts that were put in place in the budget last December.
The Irish National Teachers' Organization is also due to reveal the results of its ballot today. Its executive committee has recommended approval of the agreement.
