The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) is demanding a minimum salary of £40,000 a year for teachers at the top of the pay scale in its submission to a new Government pay review body.
It also wants new entrants to the profession to earn at least £20,000 a year.
In a submission to the Government's benchmarking pay review body - to be finalised today - the union wants a dramatic review of teachers' pay including:
Salary increases of at least 20 per cent, with 30 per cent in some cases.
A halving of the current 23point incremental salary scale.
A new promotion structure with more opportunities for teachers to advance. At present, such opportunities are available to about 50 per cent of primary teachers. A radical review of all allowances, especially for principals, to make these posts more attractive. The INTO executive is meeting in Newry to finalise the benchmarking document today. The location of the meeting may be changed this morning because of the foot-and-mouth crisis. At present, teachers' starting salary is about £17,000 plus some allowances; the INTO wants to boost this to well over £20,000, with parallel increases in allowances for qualifications and experience.
At the other end of the pay scale, a senior teacher now earns about £31,000 plus allowances; the union wants to increase this to a minimum of £40,000 a year. The INTO demands come as the Labour Court prepares to issue its recommendation in the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) dispute.
The court will deliver its recommendation late next week.
The ASTI executive meets on Saturday to consider plans for renewed industrial action next week, including one-day school closures and a ban on exam work. Hardliners in the union have been annoyed by what they see as a delay in the framing of a Labour Court proposal. Saturday's meeting will decide to press ahead with next week's strike action, or to review strike action in the light of the Labour Court recommendations.
The court, which has a workload of over 700 cases a year, has been considering the ASTI case since the union made its submission three weeks ago. At any given time, the court deals with over a dozen cases.
It is thought the court has been irritated by the criticism that it "missed" the ASTI dead line. Industrial relations experts say the court never committed itself to meeting any deadline.