UTU UPDATE – MAY 2016

Our Ref: 139/584

Dear Colleague,

NEW EDUCATION MINISTER

The waiting is over and the new Education Minister for NI has been announced and it is Peter Weir, DUP. A copy of our joint Election Manifesto was sent to Mr Weir before the election (copy available on the UTU website) but we are keen to meet with him as soon as possible given the dire funding situation in schools. We have invited him to meet with the Officers of UTU - President, Mark Creelman, Ex-President, Julie Orr, Vice President, David Thompson and General Secretary, Avril Hall-Callaghan - at the earliest opportunity to discuss the Resolutions brought to our Annual Conference in March.

FUNDING

One of the most pressing issues in schools is the insufficient funding allocated in school budgets and the impact the increases national insurance and pensions costs have had, given that the Department of Education has not allowed for them in school budgets. This issue is one the new Minister must get to grips with immediately. Unfortunately this funding crisis has already led to additional redundancies in schools. If any teacher needs advice or assistance regarding redundancy then they should contact UTU HQ at the earliest opportunity and ask to speak to an Official.

BRANCH, AREA AND CEC TRAINING

As already notified on the UTU website, there is to be training for Branch and Area Chairs and Secretaries and all CEC members on Thursday 2nd June starting in UTU Headquarters at 6pm. It is intended to give Branch and Area Officers an update on the re-structuring of Branches which has taken place over the past three years and to review the impact this has had on nomination of delegates to Annual

Conference. If any member who is not an Officer of their Branch or Area would like to submit written comments then please email them to Headquarters as soon as possible. Anyone who is interested in attending the training should submit the application form on the UTU website to reserve a place.

JOB OPPORTUNITY

The UTU is hoping to recruit an Organising Officer from 1st September 2016 to replace Leigh Cooper who has been promoted the post of Field Officer. Full details are available on the UTU website at www.utu.edu. The person appointed will need to be a qualified teacher by 1st September 2016 and eligible to be, or already registered with GTC NI. The applications will close on 17th June with interviews to be held on 23rd June, 2016.

SALARY NEGOTIATIONS

A further meeting of the Salaries Negotiating Committee is to take place in UTU Headquarters on Thursday 2nd June, 2016. This is to be the final opportunity to settle the outstanding claim from September 2015. We have been negotiating in a climate where Executive Pay Policy restricted us to 1% but this was further restricted by Management Side’s position that teachers would have to give up their contractual right to automatic incremental progression in order to access it. A further update on progress, if any is possible, will be reported in June.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE

The JWP recently signed off on a revised Disciplinary Procedure which includes the statement that decisions of the Independent Appeals Panel at the LRA will be “final and binding”. This corrects the position where a Board of Governors could simply ignore an LRA Appeals Panel decision, as occurred last year when a recommendation that a teacher who had been dismissed be re-instated was ignored by a Board of Governors. The case went to an Industrial Tribunal which he subsequently won. Once Guidance Notes have been agreed the revised Disciplinary Procedure will go to the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee for satisfaction.

RECRUITMENT

While many schools are experiencing a reduction in staffing, others are in the happy position of being able to recruit new members of staff, It is important that the UTU Representative keeps us informed and approach all new teaching staff with UTU literature and an invitation to join the only locally- based teachers’ union, and one ewhich offers an excellent service to its members.

DON’T FORGET TO LET US KNOW WHO THE UTU REPRESENTATIVE FOR NEXT YEAR WILL BE!!

Yours sincerely

Avril Hall-Callaghan General Secretary