Teachers' conferences to call for better pay for new entrants

The country's three teacher trade unions will be opening their annual conferences in Cork, Killarney and Wexford today.

Around 1,800 delegates are attending the conferences, where unequal teacher salaries are expected to be a major issue.

All three unions, INTO, ASTI, and TUI, will debate motions criticising lower pay for new entrants to the profession, and calling for the equalisation of salary scales.

Delegates at two of the three teacher unions will open their deliberations with motions dealing with the issue of newly qualified teachers and the fact that they earn substantially less compared to their longer term colleagues for the same work.

The unions estimate there is now a more than a 20% pay gap between the two categories, which rankles with their members.

Primary school teachers’ union INTO's first motion of the day at its gathering in Wexford calls for immediate negotiations to restore a common pay scale for all.

This afternoon secondary school teachers union the ASTI will hear similar demands at its conference in Cork, in addition to discussions on its ongoing opposition to Junior Cycle reform.

The TUI, meanwhile, will among other things also focus on the impact of cuts at third level.