Union promises action on pay and pensions

A MAJOR effort to increase job opportunities for out-of-work teachers and restore equal pay and pensions for those starting their careers has been promised by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO).

With dozens of recent graduates among delegates at the union’s annual congress, anger over the lack of work and the use of unqualified and retired teachers dominated debate.

A motion was backed proposing possible industrial action over the cuts to new entrants, and INTO executive member Brendan O’Sullivan questioned why newly qualified teachers should be bound by Croke Park conditions not to strike when they were not protected by it.