Q&A: How will the ASTI teachers’ dispute affect schools?

Q. How real is the risk of school closures?

It is very real. The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) vote in favour of industrial action means the union is set to cease providing supervision and substitution cover.

This has the potential to disrupt and even close schools on health and safety grounds. A crucial next step is how much notice will the union provide to schools before members withdraw from supervision and substitution duties.

Q. What schools will be affected?

The Department of Education believes that as many as 525 secondary schools could be affected.

They are mainly voluntary secondary schools – typically owned and managed by religious orders – which are staffed by ASTI members.

However, community and comprehensive schools – where there are members of both the ASTI and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) – may also be affected.

Most schools run by the Education and Training Board (formerly the VECs) are staffed by members of the TUI and will not be affected. A very small number, however, are dual-union and may experience some disruption.

Q.When is this disruption likely to occur?

The ASTI’s standing committee is due to issue a formal directive on Friday directing members on when to cease providing supervision and substitution cover.

We do not know yet when that will be, though sources suggest it may come into effect following the mid-term break, or from Monday, November 7th, onwards.

While teachers would be available to teach, they would not be available to monitor break times or fill in for teachers who are sick or away on school trips. This could force the closure of schools on health and safety grounds.

However, management bodies for about 500 secondary schools are planning to hire supervisors to fulfil these duties.

Q. Will these supervisors be hired in time?

That all depends on when the directive comes into force. The department says a minimum of six or seven weeks is needed to recruit and vet supervisors – and even then schools may not be able to remain open.

Some union sources say it is not realistic to expect members to perform unpaid supervision duties for that long.

As a result, the union’s directive is likely to come into force much sooner.

Q. Who is to blame for things getting to this point?

That depends on who you ask. Expect a bitter blame-game to erupt.

The department is likely to argue that ASTI teachers have caused chaos by embarking on a reckless and unreasonable industrial relations strategy.

ASTI members, on the other hand, insist they are not closing schools. Rather, they are available to teach – but not to provide supervision duties. They say schools have had plenty of notice that this action has been looming.

Q. If teachers are available to teach, but not to provide supervision or substitution, why might schools close?

While teachers would be available to teach, they would not be available to monitor break times or fill in for teachers who are sick or away on school trips. This could force the closure of schools on health and safety grounds. That is why management bodies for secondary schools are planning to hire supervisors to fulfil these duties.

Q. A similar dispute erupted in 2002 and schools didn't close – so what has changed?

In 2002, schools faced a similar closure threat when ASTI teachers ceased performing supervision and substitution duties. Back then, schools hired supervisors from a range of backgrounds to monitor break-times and supervise classes.

This time, it is more difficult. Child protection rules mean all supervisors must be Garda-vetted. This process takes about three weeks, but could potentially be fast-tracked. Then there is the time it takes to recruit and train supervisors, which could add several more weeks to the process.

Q. Who will pay these supervisors?

Under contingency plans being drawn up, the boards of management of individual schools would be responsible for hiring supervisors, while the department is understood to be prepared to make funds available.

Q. Where does this dispute stem from?

Earlier this year the ASTI voted to cease working an additional hour a week – known as “Croke Park” hours – of non-teaching time which had been agreed under a previous pay deal.

School managers said these hours were crucial for planning and parent-teacher meetings, but many teachers regarded them as “detention” for teachers.

In deciding not to work these hours, the Government saw this as a “repudiation” of the Lansdowne Road pay deal.

This triggered a series of pay freezes for ASTI members – including the non-payment of money for supervision and substitution worth almost €800 this year, and a further €800 next year.

(Coincidentally, members of the TUI – the other secondary teachers’ union, which is not in dispute with the Government – receive these payments today.)

This, in turn, prompted the ASTI to ballot to, in effect, withdraw their supervision and substitution duties.

Q. Is there any sign of a resolution to this dispute?

It is difficult to see much common ground right now. The ASTI is in conflict with the Government across a series of fronts – junior-cycle reform, pay for new teachers, Croke Park hours – and shows little sign of compromise.

The Government insists that pay and conditions can only be discussed within the confines of the Lansdowne Road pay deal. Anything outside of this, it argues, would undermine public pay policy and lead to a wages free-for-all.

Assuming schools close, it is likely both sides will be under acute pressure to sit down and do some kind of deal.

Q. Does this impact in any way on the junior-cycle dispute?

Strictly speaking, no.

The ASTI has directed members not to co-operate with junior-cycle reforms. (This means students in schools taught by ASTI English teachers are set lose 10 per cent of their marks as the students are not taking part in classroom-based assessments.)

Talks between the department and the ASTI are continuing. However, any resolution to the supervision and substitution is likely to also extend to junior-cycle reform.