Union boss sees teachers ‘heading for full strike’

The head of a secondary school teachers union has said he believes his members “are heading towards an all out strike”.

The president of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), Ed Byrne, said his 17,000 members will not accept the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA) as they want “collegiality amongst teachers” where there is “equal pay” for “equal work”.

Its members are voting for industrial action “up to and including an all-out strike” if the pay of new entrants since 2011 is not put back on a par with longer-serving teachers.