ETB Adult Education Tutors staged a day of action with local protests at Education and Training Board offices in Cork, Drogheda, North Tipperary, South Tipperary and Ballsbridge in Dublin.
People Before Profit supported protests in Dublin and Cork with local candidate Joe Moore in Cork and TD Bríd Smith in Dublin.
People Before Profit says fair play to the campaigners:
For years they’ve been on variety of messy contracts and salary schemes and rates that don’t recognize their experience, training, commitment, or dedication.
They are campaigning for a public service contract; an incremental salary scheme; recognition of prior service; and pay parity for post-2011 entrants now – and in any future arrangement.
These are dedicated committed educators: They shouldn’t have to sign on the dole for school breaks. They shouldn’t have precarious hourly pay and precarious income levels. Like any developing experienced education workers. They need fair pay scales that recognize their years of experience and knowledge of the Adult Education in Ireland.
ALL WORKERS deserve these basics – but the Adult Education Tutors have developed a nationwide campaign that has protested at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) and the Dáil and won national attention.
This is why DPER Simon Harris in the Dept of Further and Higher Education and has finally moved and said a resolution is ready!
Should the campaign wind down? Absolutely not. It should escalate! Today’s protest at ETB head offices in counties and cities across Ireland is just the ticket. Don’t take a weak offer if you’ve been fighting for years. What highlighted the Adult Education Tutors demands was not their patience, it was the protests.
Workers united around the country, across counties and workplaces and unions to build this campaign. And they are winning because they are fighting.
This is an exemplary campaign and that is having a real impact. We support the workers. To find out more and hear some interviews with the tutors see @AdultEdTutors on Twitter.
