The Taoiseach is right to say we need a body to look comprehensively and objectively at the pay of public servants across the spectrum. Once people are paid out of public funds there is bound to be a need to evaluate how their work compares with others who are paid out of public funds.
In that sense, it is not possible for the ASTI to pursue its 30 per cent pay claim against the Government as if other public employees do not exist. On the other hand, a union is free not to accept the terms of any particular agreement, like the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. The fact that they are not accepting the PPF shouldn't mean they are thereby disabled from pursuing a pay claim.
The question is how can the pay claim of a union outside the PPF be related to the pay claims of those within it. This is the issue at the heart of the teachers' strike.
I believe the formula by Tom Pomphrett of the Labour Relations Commission provides the best way for reconciling these potentially conflicting requirements - the requirement of respect both for the PPF and for the rights of those outside it.
The Fine Gael shadow minister for education, Mr Enda Kenny, put forward our proposal for a commission on teaching, separate from, but taking account of, the PPF, as a way around some of the difficulties in the dispute. While this commission would not deal with pay, it could deal with conditions in a manner that would take account of benchmarking within the PPF, but not subject to it in a directive sense.
As the Government would be a key player in the commission on teaching, it would be able to protect essential principles of the PPF in the evolution of the commission. But the important thing would be that a forum would have been created which would have moved the grievances of teachers out of confrontation and into conciliation.
Against that background, I find it very hard to understand the tactical and strategic thinking of the Taoiseach when he composed his article for yesterday's Irish Times.
The Taoiseach asks the question: "Why is the ASTI strike continuing?" In the same spirit, I ask the question: "Why did the Taoiseach think it helpful to write this article?"
The Taoiseach speculates about why the ASTI is on strike. He suggests that it is "partly about a power struggle within the ASTI". Whether that is true or not, it is hardly constructive for someone outside the ASTI to speculate publicly about division in an organisation if it is his intention to persuade that organisation to do business with him. Such interference in the internal affairs of one's negotiating interlocutor is not the best way to create a good negotiating atmosphere.
The Taoiseach even goes as far as to speculate that the ASTI is engaged in a political strike. He says that "ultimately, perhaps, this is a crusade against the Government". It is quite serious to accuse any trade union of pursing a political strike.
I do not believe the ASTI is engaged in a crusade against the Government. I do not believe it is engaged in seeking to politically supplant the Government. That can be safely left to the electorate.
I do believe the ASTI is pursuing a pay claim. I believe it is a pay claim that can only be satisfactorily resolved by reference to the pay claims and needs of teachers and other public servants. I believe that, notwithstanding the fact that the ASTI has taken a principled stand not to participate in the PPF, a formula can be found for this pay claim to be negotiated in a fashion that respects the needs of union members who are in the PPF, and respects the overriding need to maintain the competitiveness of our economy. Fine Gael believes innovative ways can be developed to achieve this. We favour supplementing pay increases with gain-sharing arrangements related to productivity and with deferred payments in the form of bonds. These approaches would avoid causing competitiveness and inflation problems in the short term, while meeting just claims in a fair way.
As a parent of three second-level students I have a deep personal interest in seeing the teachers' dispute settled quickly. We need a formula that gets people back to work by assuring them that outstanding issues will be dealt with fairly.
I have doubts about the usefulness of megaphone diplomacy of the kind deployed by the Taoiseach in yesterday's Irish Times. I have more confidence in the painstaking work now being done by Mr Pomphrett, trade union leaders and others to find a formula that respects the dignity and rights of all involved, and brings a quick end to the strike.
John Bruton is leader of Fine Gael