Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Agreed. I support the amendment simply because our amendments and others that would have the effect of undoing pay discrimination and pay inequality have been ruled out of order. The amendment which calls for the presentation of a report is the best we can do. I put it to the Government that either way this amendment will be passed. The Minister will have to bring forward a report within three months. It would want to include a concrete plan for a quick ending of pay inequality or the Government will meet the wrath of many teachers, nurses and public sector workers who will not accept ongoing pay discrimination.

It is not surprising that the Labour Party would like us to look to the future, considering the role it played in the past in the implementation and standing over of the horrific creation of an edifice of pay inequality. It is an attempt to undermine solidarity between workers who are doing the same work but who happened to enter the workforce at different points.

A woman by the name of Ciara Kinsella wrote an article in thejournal.ieexplaining why had taken strike action with the ASTI. It reads:

IN MY SCHOOL, just like in every other school around the country, there exists inequality.

Not inequality based on gender, although that fight is still on-going.

A new inequality has emerged – pay discrimination for younger teachers.

Since I began my first teaching job in 2007, I am on what is called the ‘pre-2011’ teachers’ pay scale, while my colleagues who began teaching ‘post-2011’ are on a much-reduced new entrants’ salary scale.

I share the same duties and responsibilities as these new entrants, and we are both held equally accountable. Yet there will be a six-figure difference in our lifetime earnings.

It is unacceptable and wrong to accept this situation in any profession. Therefore, this autumn, as a member of the ASTI, I will be voting ‘yes’ to industrial action, up to and including strike action, to put an end to marginalisation and pay disparity.

We are not looking for a pay increase; we are demanding a pay restoration for our most vulnerable colleagues.

For the first time in six years, we have been given the opportunity to stand with our lesser-paid colleagues and show intergenerational solidarity.

That sums it up. It sums up the attitude of the vast majority of workers in the public sector, whether they are pre-2011 or post-2011 employees. They do not accept the division the Government is attempting to create through this pay discrimination. They reject it and see it for the danger it is. They would like to have the opportunity, without all of this draconian legislation, to struggle against it. It is worth looking at. When these points are made, Government Deputies try to retort by confusing the issue and talking about things that are different. There are different pay scales. The new entrant teachers will never reach the level of the equivalent earlier entrant teachers. The same applies in other parts of the workforce also.

The money involved is astounding. It amounts to a six figure sum. Over a 40-year period a primary school teacher could earn up to €200,000 less. A secondary school teacher could earn up to €300,000 less in the same period. Therefore, a phenomenal amount of money is involved.

As the new pension arrangement comes into being - it is based on lifetime earnings - it will hit people again. There will be a double impact, whereby people's pensions will also be affected. It is scandalous that the Government wants this to become a permanent feature of the landscape and it will spread. It is spreading already to some degree to the private sector. This pay inequality is based largely on age and its purpose is to save money and undermine the trade unions and collective solidarity.

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