Sir, - From the outset of the ASTI pay claim, there has been a concerted media campaign against teachers. Of course, this statement will be dismissed as paranoia. It is also paranoiac, I suppose, to suggest that the media, as well as fomenting public ill-will against teachers, have been the Government's greatest ally in undermining a trade union's right to pursue a legitimate pay claim? Granted, the ASTI PR strategy was less than successful, but surely the free press has a moral and public duty to expose inequities of pay, regardless of any trade union's shortcomings in the public relations field.
Instead of trying to understand teachers' frustrations, the media decided it would be easier and more profitable to initiate a campaign of sustained vilification, based on perceived deficiencies in ASTI public relations. Larger issues such as the value of teaching and the future of Irish education were subsumed under the subconscious agenda of "teacherphobia". Symptoms of this virus include the usual dog-in-the-manger whinging about three months' holidays and pensionable security.
Another, more sinister, indicator is the not uncommon belief that only the "good teachers" should be paid. Was there a sustained media outcry about TDs' holidays when they awarded themselves 30 per cent. Ever heard of only paying "good nurses"? Did the media see no anomalies in the ESB pay rise of 21 per cent outside of the PPF? Or in the numerous other increases granted to workers outside the PPF (Iarnrod Eireann and hospital consultants to name but two) in the past year? The only player offside, it seems is the ASTI, which is sin-binned while all the others sneak in to score and claim their match bonus.
But it is the media's twisted hypocrisy that galls the most. On the one hand, we are castigated for "using" pupils in our dispute, and on the other, we are criticised for not going on all-out strike! And if the Labour Court recommendations are rejected we will be further demonised, whereas if they are accepted, we may be scorned for having capitulated to public/ media/Government pressure.
Whatever happens, I'll never feel the same about my job again. Thanks to the media, my self-esteem as a teacher has been damaged. The value of my work (paid and voluntary) has been cynically diminished. My profession has been subjected to a daily barrage of ridicule and abuse. I'm tired of it. My right to a fair salary has been dumped into the begging-bowl of benchmarking, while Bertie barks at us from the Dail, and preens his ego in the Abbotstown folly.
Teachers work hard, in difficult conditions and under considerable pressure. It is unfair to be expected to wait until June 2002 to receive only 25 per cent of an unspecified award, which, depending on the economy of the time, we may or may not get. Mr Woods says the money is there now, and that we deserve an increase. Talk is cheap and we've been patronised enough. Whatever about more money, we deserve a lot more respect. - Yours, etc.,
Frank Farrelly, Powerscourt Lawns, Waterford.