The average teacher is earning £9,000 less a year than members of other graduate professions after 15 years' service, according to the main secondary teachers' union. And teachers take longer to reach the top of their pay scale than any other public service group.
These figures are cited in a confidential submission by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) to the Teachers' Arbitration Board.
The submission, seen by The Irish Times, cites OECD figures to support claims that teachers' pay has fallen behind that of other graduate professions. It also highlights an alarming drop in the numbers entering secondary teaching.
The number of applicants for the Higher Diploma in Education (HDip) has fallen by 23 per cent in the past two years, it says. Less than 60 per cent of those qualified to teach actually enter the classroom, with many favouring other more lucrative job options, according to the ASTI.
The union, which is demanding a 30 per cent pay increase, says the status and morale of teachers can be restored only if their salaries match those available in other graduate professions.
Most teachers, it says, take 23 years to reach the top of their pay scale, the longest such scale across the public service. On average, it says, teachers receive about 73 per cent of the total weekly wage, including overtime, earned by a prison officer, compared with 93 per cent five years ago.
Teachers have also fallen significantly behind pay levels, also including overtime, in the Garda; they now earn 86 per cent of the average total weekly wage paid to members of the force.
For many younger teachers, buying a home on current pay levels is an "unrealistic ambition", according to the ASTI.
A series of one-day strikes later this year, and even disruption to next year's Junior and Leaving Certificate examinations, is possible if, as seems likely, the ASTI demand is rejected by the public service arbitrator. After last week's formal submission by the ASTI, the arbitrator is likely to give his finding before the end of this month.
The union is likely to be offered the terms of the national pay deal, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF), which it has already rejected.
In its 34-page submission to the board, the ASTI cites an internal survey of final-year Bachelor of Education students at the University of Limerick. Only 38 per cent intended to enter the teaching profession this month and one in three had no intention of teaching for the foreseeable future.
The ASTI claim is based on four main pillars:
the cost of living and rising inflation;
the contribution of the education system to economic progress;
the dramatic rate of change in secondary teaching; and
comparison with pay enjoyed by other graduate professions.
The ASTI says the "selfless dedication of teachers has long been recognised" by the Irish people but that teaching is now a more complex and demanding job.
"The influence of traditional authority systems within the family, church and government has lessened appreciably, and this climate of diminished respect for traditional authority has placed very obvious extra demands on teachers."
The "morale and status of teachers will only be restored", the submission continues, and a high-quality teaching staff maintained, "if their salaries are comparable with those who receive similar graduate and postgraduate training for their profession."
The ASTI was the only teaching union to reject the terms of the PPF, which gave teachers a 19 per cent increase over three years. The other teaching unions are pursuing demands through a section of the pay deal which could reward teachers for increased productivity and changes in working methods. But this review body is not due to report until 2003.