ASTI to recommend pay deal rejection

THE executive committee of secondary schoolteachers’ union ASTI yesterday confirmed it would be recommending its 18,000 public sector members reject the public service pay deal.

The decision was not unexpected given the hostile reception the deal was given at the union’s annual conference earlier this week.

“The main problem was that they (the executive members) did not feel there was a guarantee in relation to further pay cuts and there was a vagueness around changes to teachers’ contracts,” said a spokeswoman for the union.