‘They deserve to be on a good wage’: Dublin parents back teachers on industrial action

“I didn’t even know there was anything going on with the teachers. Now, his ma probably knows,” says Caroline Anglim as she holds her young grandson’s hand.She has just collected him from playschool in The Liberties in Dublin city centre and takes out her phone and rings her daughter.“Hang on,” she says, as she learns that primary schoolteachers from the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation began a work-to-rule on Monday amid a public sector pay dispute involving more than 100,000 public sector workers.“Nikita, did you know there was anything going on with the teachers and nurses and all that? Oh you did? I’m standing here with a journalist, and I just said I’d ring you,” she says.READ MOREAnglim believes it will affect all parents, “especially working parents”, though it is unclear whether she is telling The Irish Times or her daughter.“She says they’re not getting the recognition,” Anglim says, passing on her daughter’s thoughts. No longer on the phone, Caroline says teachers “deserve what they’re getting and probably more”, adding they are “taking on an awful lot”.Several parents collecting their children from primary schools in the area were unaware of the work-to-rule action taken by teachers from Monday. Even more were unaware of a planned 24-hour strike next Wednesday.“I didn’t even know there was a strike on, to be honest,” says Laura, who is collecting her two children from St James’s Primary School. She works in a GP surgery in the area.“They deserve to be on a good wage,” she says, though she accepts a potential 24-hour strike next week could “upset my job”.“I have no clue about that yet,” says Charlyne, an IT worker originally from France, who was frantically rushing with her daughter to get back to work. She was one of a wave of parents to collect their children from Canal Way Educate Together National School.The vast majority of parents who spoke to The Irish Times on Monday were supportive of the action.“The strike is obviously very different to the work-to-rule. It will affect parents a lot more, but I get where they’re coming from,” says one father in his 40s, who describes the current cost of living as “crazy”.A short time later, Edel Kearney is leaning against the wall of Canal Way, waiting to pickup her two children, aged eight and 10.Kearney, who is in her 40s, works as a career coach in the public sector and has been engaging in work-to-rule action since last week.Edel Kearney has been engaging in work-to-rule action since last week, and will bring her children to the picket line should schools close next week. Her husband also works in the public sector, and both will be taking part in the 24-hour strike next Wednesday.With schools also expected to close, she believes she will be “bringing the kids with me to the picket line”.Describing the job of a teacher as “serious work”, Kearney says “everyone” is struggling financially.“Myself and my husband even were sitting around yesterday trying to figure out how we were going to afford it until the end of the month. It’s literally at that stage,” she says. During the same pickup, Kathy Foley says she will “of course” be affected should the 24-hour teacher strike go ahead.“I won’t mind,” adds her 10-year-old daughter, Nancy.[ Budget 2027: Improved childcare supports to include after-school careOpens in new window ]Despite the potential disruption, Foley says she supports the teachers’ right to take industrial action.“It’s really important that they get paid properly and in line with inflation for the work that they do,” she says.“I am fortunate that with my child at this age, it’s not a huge challenge for us if there’s a day off school. I can work at home, and she can manage. “But I know for parents of more than one child, younger children, children with additional needs, people with inflexible work situations, it’s really, really tricky,” she says.