The ASTI’s Central Executive Council has voted to continue the union’s suspension of industrial action while it engages in new entrant pay talks along with the other public sector unions, including the INTO and the TUI.
“The ASTI will not stop until the pay of our most vulnerable members is addressed and until equal pay for equal work is restored for all teachers”, said ASTI President Ger Curtin
The ASTI embarked on industrial action last year following its rejection of the Lansdowne Road Agreement which did not address the issue of unequal pay for post 2010 teachers. The industrial action was suspended in June of this year pending the outcome of public sector pay talks.
In a ballot in October 2017, the ASTI rejected the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 which fails to commit to resolving the issue of unequal pay for teachers during the lifetime of the Agreement.
At a meeting of the Central Executive Council held in Athlone this evening, Ger Curtin said: “Unequal pay is already having a significant negative impact on teaching and on the second-level education service. Teachers are leaving the profession or taking up positions abroad. Young people are turning away from entering the profession and towards other more stable and better paid careers. Schools are having difficulties filling teaching posts across a wide range of subjects. The only way to resolve this is to provide a dignified route of entry to teaching by ending unequal pay and allowing young teachers to earn a decent living.”
The ASTI said it would work with its sister unions the INTO and the TUI to end the discrimination of post 2010 teachers in their pay.
The Central Executive Council also reaffirmed its opposition to teachers assessing their own students as part of Junior Cycle certification.
Ends
