‘ASTI members bullied into acceptance of Haddington Road’

The Government has been accused by a union leader of replacing democracy with dictatorship by using the law to force public servants into reduced pay and conditions.

But Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland general secretary Pat King warned unions will stand together to fight pay claims.

He told 500 members at ASTI’s annual convention the last two governments tore up the rule book on using industrial relations law to reach agreement on public service pay. Instead, he said, they used financial emergency legislation to introduce the public service pension levy, and cuts to pay and pensions.