Dempsey in divide and conquer bid on teachers

EDUCATION Minister Noel Dempsey is adopting risky divide and conquer tactics against the ASTI in an effort to finally end the four-year secondary teachers dispute.

Going over the heads of the union’s hardline leadership, the minister is embarking on an unprecedented nationwide tour next month to personally sell his supervision and substitution deal to grassroots teachers.

But ASTI chiefs warned last night Mr Dempsey’s plan could backfire by antagonising union members ahead of a vote on the 38-an-hour scheme next month.

The union’s leadership are recommending rejection of the deal, worth over 1,400 a year to those who sign up for it.

The minister is hoping his direct appeal at eight meetings around the country will strike a chord with many grassroots union members who are fed up with the long-running dispute, but have not participated in important votes in the past.

Earlier this week, the minister angered ASTI leaders when he warned he would create permanent posts for non-teacher supervisors working in more than 400 secondary schools if the deal was rejected.

But last night, ASTI general secretary Charlie Lennon described the minister’s

involvement as unwarranted. The union would be making all Department of Education and school management documents on the scheme available to members before voting begins on March 3.

“I would regard it as a very dangerous precedent for the minister to become involved. It will tend to encourage a negative vote rather than a positive one,” he said. Just 55% of the 17,000-member union voted in November on the deal, accepting it by 63% to 37%. But the second ballot was called after ASTI officials and the Department of Education failed to reach agreement on how the scheme would work.

The ASTI’s ruling body, the central executive committee, has recommended teachers reject the package because it requires them to be available for an extra two class periods a week.

Mr Dempsey accepted the move was unprecedented, but rejected claims he was going over the heads of the union. The minister said he would prefer to have teachers doing supervision work for the sake of discipline and easier school management.

“It’s an attempt to show ASTI members that it can’t be left to 55% of the union to decide for them. It would be different if I turned up at union meetings, but I have called these meetings myself and members can turn up if they wish,” said the minister, a former member of the union.

The representative body for school managers, the Joint Managerial Body, has also backed the minister’s intervention and will attend the meetings to answer queries on operational aspects of the scheme. The JMB supports the idea of teachers doing the work in the schools.

The meetings will be held in Dublin, Meath, Galway, Sligo, Limerick, Cork, Athlone and Kilkenny between February 18 and February 27. Advertisements for the meetings appear in today’s newspapers.

The Teachers Union of Ireland, whose members are already operating the scheme alongside ASTI members in around 100 schools, declined to comment last night. But TUI general secretary Jim Dorney said the supervision package was working out quite well for his members.