The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland recognises the concerns of parents and students regarding the current pay dispute between ASTI members and the Government.
The union has good relations with the National Parents Council (Post Primary), which is the national body representing parents of second-level children, and has continued to meet representatives from the NPC regularly throughout the current pay dispute. It also regularly meets the constituent associations of the NPC, including the Congress of Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association.
Second-level teachers are dedicated to the welfare of their pupils and would have preferred to pursue improvements in their pay through negotiations. However, both the Teachers' Arbitration Board and the Government failed to address the ASTI claim in any meaningful way and we were forced into industrial action.
ASTI members are in dispute with their employer, the Government. Industrial relations difficulties and their solutions always involve the employer and employees but not usually the consumer. This dispute is no different and it is unfortunate that parents and students are affected by it. In setting out its industrial relations strategy the ASTI has tried to maximise pressure on the Government while minimising disruption to students and the education system.
The decision to take industrial action in the form of withdrawal of break-time supervision and cover for absent colleagues was designed to highlight the fact that the second-level education system is dependent on the voluntary work of teachers and also to show that teachers are doing a lot more in their schools besides teaching.
Yesterday, Barbara Johnston of the Congress of Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association, in an article on this page, called on parents to ignore the advice of boards of management in relation to students' attendance at schools during three days of work-to-rule industrial action by ASTI members this week. Although the ASTI's 16,600 members are presenting themselves for work, it is up to individual school boards of management to decide whether to accept pupils.
It is irresponsible of Ms Johnston to urge parents to go against boards of management and thus put the safety of pupils at risk.
Ms Johnston also asserts that parents are receiving a lot of information through the media about teachers' working lives. However, I believe the majority of parents have good relations with teachers and share the view that modern teaching is a complex role which requires a wide range of interpersonal skills.
They also understand that the school year is designed to accommodate students' needs, facilitate examinations and allow proper school planning. What's more, they accept that teachers work more than their classroom teaching hours and use a proportion of school holiday periods to pursue professional development interests.
In-service training, as distinct from individual professional development interests, is designed to facilitate changes in the education system. Teachers are entitled to be properly prepared for such changes and to receive the appropriate professional development training necessary to implement such change successfully. As for sick leave, the CPSA must know that most teachers take only a tiny proportion of the sick leave they are entitled to.
On stress, the ASTI has recently introduced a major programme which aims to tackle and prevent stress in the school environment. Our employer also has a responsibility to protect teachers against the sort of increased stress we have seen in the past 10 to 15 years.
Finally, it is only fair that teachers, as employees, are entitled to the same protection offered to other workers and therefore are subject to the same complaints procedures as other workers.
Teachers, like parents, recognise the value of the education service and would like nothing better than talks which would bring this dispute to a conclusion.
However, talks are only possible if the Government responds to its employees - the teachers - and provides a means to negotiate on the issues in the ASTI claim.
Don McCluskey is president of ASTI