Sir, - I am delighted to see that The Irish Times has recognised that there is a "smouldering discontent" in the ranks of the INTO and TUI on the pay issue (Editorial, September 27th). ASTI is not alone in demanding a decent basic wage. Some people seem to be trying to divide teachers. This will not happen, as most people support them. Check your opinion polls for the relevant information.
An attempt is now being made to smear ASTI members as greedy. There will also be an effort to drive a wedge between other public-sector workers. Most ordinary workers know the real game going on here. The reality is that the national wage bill is well behind profits. The latter have more than doubled in five years - rising by 120 per cent. The wage bill rose by only 49 per cent. The ESRI estimates that profits will jump another 18.3 per cent while the national wage bill will rise by a far lower 12.7 per cent.
The bottom line is that we should all support the teachers in their campaign for a fair wage as they are the ones who teach our children, train our teams, assist children with disabilities and work voluntarily in many areas throughout the country.
People who make smart comments about the long holidays have not got a clue about teaching. Most of them would not last five minutes in a classroom. They know it and the public know it.
Instead of trying to dismantle our education system we should all be working to improve it. A major part of our development is the looking after our teachers. - Yours, etc.,
Cllr Finian McGrath, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9.