Rebel faction urges members to rise up against ‘failing’ union leaders

GRASSROOTS members of all unions have been urged to rise up against an alleged leadership class that is utterly failing to listen to the people it claims to represent.

A newly formed rebel faction within the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) made the call over claims the teachers’ body and other unions are not listening to those suffering serious cuts to pay, resources and working conditions.

Speaking after the first meeting of the 45-strong ASTI Fightback — which includes members of the Socialist Party and People before Profit but is not affiliated to any political group — spokesman Andrew Phelan said the officer class is not capable of protecting ordinary people’s rights.

And while he stressed the unofficial group does not want to leave ASTI itself, he emphasised that the teachers body and the wider union movement is in dire need of reform, led from the bottom up.

After an initial meeting on the fringes of the official ASTI conference yesterday, the group released a statement of its concerns to the Irish Examiner.

The group claims it is being controlled by a “detached” leadership that is failing to stand up for both ordinary teachers and their pupils.

They say the top tier within ASTI should be paid no more than an average teacher’s wage so they can “relate to the hardships teachers are facing trying to pay bills and mortgages.

Demoralisation is destroying the union at branch level, the group claims, with members “fed up” of raising issues at local meetings they say are rarely addressed.

The faction was mainly established in response to the Croke Park agreement.

Mr Phelan said just 22% of ASTI members initially voted in favour of the deal, with almost two-thirds abstaining from the vote “out of demoralisation”.

The rebel group is asking members of all other unions to establish similar “activist” bodies within the organisations and to discuss the matter further at the trade union activist forum in Dublin on May 7.