Teachers suffer this time around

TEACHERS were some of the biggest winners in the last benchmarking process but most of them are suffering the same disappointment as their fellow public servants this time around.

In 2002, a 13% pay rise was awarded to teachers at a time when the strike of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) was causing headaches for a government just returned for another five-year term.

A long-sought ambition of all three teachers’ unions has been changes to their pay scale. From a starting point of €31,028, a teacher must work for 25 years before reaching the top salary of €60,308.