The ASTI stands alone in opposing Government attempts to enforce cuts to public sector workers terms of employment but where is the dispute heading asks Anne Finnegan.
Why did the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) reject the Haddington Road Agreement? In doing so members accepted taking pay cuts while also stepping into uncertainty and likely industrial action.
For teachers what is at issue is their capacity to do their job, preparing young people for life.
Under the terms of the ‘deal’ arrived at between public sector trade union leaders and the Government in May teachers are expected to work longer hours but these are to spent on largely meaningless meetings but not class preparation.
Added to this is the additional work off- loaded on teachers because of the cutting of essential staff. Due to the moratorium on the recruitment of public servants; guidance councillors, year head posts, office staff and caretaking staff can no longer be replaced but their work must be done. The system is burdened to breaking point.
Surely strengthening education should be central to national recovery? The ultimate aim being, to prepare students for employment and also to allow them develop to their potential and be able to fulfill their role as citizens in a democratic society. Education is key to achieving equality but Government measures have set back years of progress. Increasing class sizes, cuts to special need assistants, language classes and capitation grants are all measures which impoverish schools in disadvantaged areas more.
ASTI members in rejecting Haddington Road are, in the words of their General Secretary Pat King, saying, ‘it is a step too far…young people’s education has been diminished and their futures compromised.’ Teachers are angry and frustrated as they find their ability to do their job stymied at every turn.
Rejecting the Haddington Road Agreement has meant teachers endured pay cuts inflicted under the anti-union emergency legislation (FEMPI) enacted in early summer to whip dissenting unions into line. Thus, the Fine Gael/Labour government marked the 100th anniversary of the 1913 Lockout. No doubt in this course of action they were well-advised by their highly paid advisors – whose own wages breach all Government restrictions.
One issue which has provoked surprise is that FEMPI allows for the continued payment of teachers for the Supervision and Substitution Scheme (S&S); this is the paid supervision of students during breaks and before and after school and payment to cover teacher absences. These payments are ended under the terms of the Haddington Road Agreement.
However the maintenance of S&S payments is likely a deliberate ploy to give the Minister for Education control over how the dispute progresses. Stopping payment will lead to ASTI members refusing to do S&S duties leading to school closures and bringing the dispute to a crunch point. The future looks uncertain. If the government makes concessions then the other public service unions who have signed up will also demand changes.
Certain issues must be considered by the ASTI leadership and members as the dispute progresses. Will they be capable of keeping the union united? After all, 44% of its 17,000 members did not vote either way on the Agreement, and of those who did 33% voted in favour, 67% against. How will these people feel as FEMPI measures begin to bite?
The idea that teachers have been deliberately provoked into taking action at a time that least suits must also be considered. Education is fast changing from being a public service to a tradable commodity. As a result across the globe teaching professionalism and teaching unions are under pressure in the name of ‘reform.’
Kathleen Lynch, UCD Professor of Equality Studies, has long highlighted the inroads made to third level education by neo-liberalism but so far she sees resistance in primary and second level schools. She maintains this is due to “the nature of teacher training, the strength of teachers’ unions and the fact that so many schools at these levels are too small to suit managerialist norms.”
Could an industrial dispute serve in weakening teaching unions and thus weaken resistance to privatisation and the dismantling of our public education system? At the end of the day Ireland’s education system is part of the $2 trillion global education ‘industry’ which Merrill Lynch advises, ‘presents one of the major new opportunities for investors in profit terms.’ If profit is the name of the game and governments are facilitating this then it is vital that teaching unions not only remain strong but come together to protect the integrity of education for all children.
