ASTI delegates to demand pay rises on final day of talks

Members of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) will debate a range of motions on salaries and allowances during the final day of their annual conference in Wexford today.

One of the resolutions states that the ASTI should escalate industrial action in September unless there is a 6% increase to all levels of pay scales.

Another motion calls on the union to demand wage rises to match cost of living increases.

Yesterday, ASTI General Secretary Kieran Christie said that teachers must receive a "substantial pay rise" in the upcoming public sector pay talks .

Addressing delegates at the convention, Mr Christie said the Government has never moved on from the mindset of recession and austerity.

The current public sector pay deal will expire at the end of June, and negotiations on a successor agreement are due to begin in the coming weeks.

"Teachers must receive a substantial pay rise - no ifs, no buts - it must happen," Mr Christie said.

"A new deal will have to be a better deal.

The narrative of the next deal must change," he added.

A range of local bargaining increases due under the current public sector agreement are still outstanding, something which Mr Christie described as "a disgrace".

"There should be no consideration of entering any new Public Sector Pay Agreement until the end line is in sight on local bargaining," he said.

Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton told members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland at their conference yesterday that it is her intention that all those fully cooperating with senior cycle redevelopment will receive the full benefits of a previously agreed pay deal.

Around 500 second-level teachers from across the country are attending the ASTI conference this week.

Aside from pay, other issues that have been debated include AI use by students, teacher workload, and the redevelopment of the senior cycle programme.