Young teachers to lose out on pay

Thousands of young teachers will lose out on another bridging of the pay gap with longer-serving teachers as they remain outside a public service pay deal.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) and Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) said the increases agreed with the Government mark another step in their campaigns to restoring pay equity for younger members hit by cuts since 2011. When combined with increases payable this year and next to most teachers, not including 18,500 members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), teachers’ starting pay will rise 15% from €31,009 to €35,602 by early 2018.

The ASTI is balloting members in the coming weeks for possible industrial action to achieve full restoration of pay equality, with hundreds of second-level schools in danger of being closed by strikes if the vote is passed. The union’s members rejected the Landsdowne Road Agreement (LRA) and so are also not receiving an additional €1,600 a year being paid to all other teachers in two phases this year and next.