Executive council to rubber-stamp rejection of deal

THE Central Executive Council of the ASTI will rubber-stamp the rejection of the pay deal at its meeting tomorrow, putting it out to a ballot of members with a recommendation that they vote against the agreement.

Outgoing ASTI general secretary John White confirmed yesterday that the union’s CEC, which has 180 members, will sanction a vote on the issue today.

“We will be rubberstamping it,” he said after an emergency motion calling for “vehement opposition to the Public Service Agreement” was passed unanimously by delegates.

Asked if the CEC will also be recommending that the union’s 18,500 members vote against the deal in the ballot, he said: “I would think so.” The strong opposition to the deal was highlighted by the lack of any voices in favour of the deal yesterday. Voting could take place within three weeks, and the result will be known in May.

Anger was also voiced yesterday at the continuing moratorium on middle management “posts of responsibility” in schools, even though Education Minister Mary Coughlan told the Teachers Unions of Ireland (TUI) conference yesterday that there would be “some alleviation” of the recruitment embargo in acute situations.

However, Mr White said the ASTI would not be lifting its own directive to members not to fill in for post holder duties, despite the minister’s words.

He said: “My understanding is that all of the unions will be leaving their measures in place. Our position is that we want it [embargo] lifted fully – the indications are that that is not going to happen.”

Any future decision on lifting the directive could be taken by the ASTI’s standing committee.

Discussing the pension levy at conference, Marie Doyle of the Retired Secondary Teachers’ Association, which has 1,000 members, said: “It is a matter of grave concern, not only to you serving teachers but to those who have retired.”

She said it was vital that parity continued between retired and current teachers, and there were now fears that teachers’ dreams of retirement were getting bleaker and bleaker.

She said: “We have many members who are living lives of quiet desperation.

“They are just looking at their pension dribbling away.”