Selfish ASTI should put students first

As the father of a boy preparing to do his Leaving Certificate this year, I wish to express my disgust at the decision of ASTI members to reject the Haddington Road agreement, which is being supported by the other teaching unions in addition to other unions within the public service.

ASTI general secretary Pat King mentioned on RTÉ that ASTI members are going on strike because teachers had a pay cut on July1. However, the cut to core pay was only to those teachers earning over €65,000. Under Haddington Road this payscale would be reinstated in 2016/17 in addition to compensation for any loss of supervision and substitution allowances. All increments would be paid in full but these would be time-delayed by a matter of months. One allowance which will continue to be paid to teachers who commenced employment before February 2012 is the qualification allowance. It is quite unbelievable that if a teacher gets a primary honours or Masters degree they get paid an extra €4,000 to €5,000 every year. If one obtains a degree it helps in their application for jobs and enhances their promotion prospects.

Mr King also blamed the Government, stating that cutbacks in education are affecting students. If the ASTI are so concerned about students they would not be planning to hold parent/teacher and staff meetings during school hours which would result in the disruption of classes for many students. In addition, they would not be boycotting the new Junior Cycle curriculum being introduced in 2014.