Sir, - Reading your esteemed publication of April 9th, I saw a reference to the unhappiness of ASTI members with the package on offer to them, as it doesn't contain an "up-front" pay increase.
Am I the only person to be completely at a loss when it comes to understanding ASTI demands for an up-front increase? The Labour Court points out in its recommendation that ASTI members have already benefited from an 8.5 per cent increase to date under the PPF, which will increase to 16 per cent by next December, this despite not being a party to the PPF. Oddly enough, the Labour Court considers that these increases de facto constitute an up-front payment. Were these payments not real? Is this money lying unspent in teachers' bank accounts? Or maybe the unthinkable happened; maybe the money was refunded. (Now there's a joke.)
Strange, isn't it, that an 8.5 per cent pay increase, given in advance of the settlement of a pay dispute, isn't an "up-front" pay increase? I'm mystified. ASTI please explain. - Yours, etc.,
Suzanne Ryan, Shea's Court, Manor Street, Dublin 7.