Teachers’ union calls for pay parity across the board including the newly qualified

The Irish National Teachers Union believes pay should be equal no matter the experience level.

The Union's national conference got underway in Belfast yesterday and Education Minister Richard Bruton is expected to deliver a speech to delegates this afternoon. Speaking at the conference yesterday the outgoing president, Rosena Jordan said she believes all teachers deserve a pay rise and the government need to sit up and take stock,

“It's not a huge amount of money. I know it’s right across the public service but in the scheme of things, where money can be found for plenty of other things, it really is a question of priorities for the government."

Annual conferences for The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland and the Teachers' Union of Ireland will begin in Killarney and in Cork later today. Demands for equal pay look set to dominate all conferences over the next 3 days, as it stands teachers recruited since 2010 are on pay scales significantly lower than their colleagues.