Industrial action by secondary teachers is likely to begin with a one-day strike and a demonstration in Dublin, the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland, has made clear. ASTI general secretary Mr Charlie Lennon said yesterday that such a step would be taken if the Government refused to negotiate with the union on its 30 per cent pay claim.
He said similar action had been taken in May 1995 by ASTI members when the Government refused to negotiate over early retirement. It is understood the strike would take place early in the next school year and, if the Government did not concede the claim, examinations could then be hit.
"We will make them negotiate in the same way as we made them negotiate on early retirement in 1995," said Mr Lennon. He said that before that however the union would "exhaust the options available".
Speaking in Killarney, Co Kerry, Mr Lennon described the response of the Government to its pay claim as "worthless". He was responding to a speech on Tuesday from the Minister of Education, Dr Woods, in which he implored teachers to participate in the new bench-marking body set up under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF). The new body is being set up to review salary levels in the public sector.
Mr Lennon said it was clear from the Minister's speech that he did not understand that teachers wanted the work they had done over recent years recognised. He said teachers had brought about a "transformation of the second-level education service over the past decade".
The Government had been hoping that with the other two teacher unions prepared to participate in the bench-marking exercise ASTI could be persuaded to join them. Mr Lennon effectively ruled this out.
"On Friday, our central executive council will meet to decide on the next step in pursuit of our claim," he said. "I think the Minister and his colleagues can be assured at this stage, however, that it will not be to pursue major improvements in our members' pay through bench-marking. "Bench-marking might have potential as a means of pegging our teachers' salaries with those of other graduate-entry professions in the future, but it could not meet one of the main objectives of our pay claim and, therefore, is worthless as a response." Dr Woods stressed in his speech that the bench-marking body was the only mechanism by which teachers could get additional money. "I hope they will consider using this process."
However, the ASTI president, Ms Bernadine O'Sullivan, in her speech on Tuesday, was scathing about the potential of the new body. "Why should teachers be fobbed off for another three years with this new-fangled benchmarking?" she asked.