ASSOCIATION OF SECONDARY TEACHERS, IRELAND:RETIRED TEACHERS who take substitute teaching hours in schools are an embarrassment to their working colleagues, delegates at the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) convention were told yesterday.
In an impassioned speech, Tipperary delegate Mary Lysaght called on retirees not to work hours that could be taken by young and part-time teachers. “You served Ireland extremely well,” she said. “You’ve made your contribution . . . We have so many young teachers out there who have no living of any kind.”
Speakers were debating motions relating to the situation of non-permanent teachers and those on contracts of indefinite duration. A total of 23 per cent of ASTI members do not have permanent jobs and concerns were raised about part-time hours being given to retirees and non-teachers over newly qualified teachers.
Greta Harrison (West Mayo) spoke about the problem of unemployed professionals like architects and lawyers picking up part-time substitution hours. Teaching was a bad job in the good times and a good job in the bad times, she said.
“It’s galling to see trained teachers sitting on their hands while . . . people who did not choose teaching as a profession get the hours,” she said. She said principals should not be giving hours on the basis of convenience but should rather give preference to newly qualified teachers. Teaching should not be a halting site for people in between better jobs, she said.
The plight of younger teachers as a consequence of the union’s work-to-rule directive was acknowledged and addressed.
At the moment, young and temporary teachers can come under pressure to take on additional work due to the work-to-rule directive and the moratorium on posts of responsibility.
John Doyle (Dublin), one of the relatively few young delegates at the conference, said: “Young teachers have the hardest role to play in the staffroom. It’s difficult to say no to people who may determine your working career.”
Mr Doyle had some advice for the union, which was echoed by other younger speakers. He told delegates that the union shouldn’t couch directives in jargon.
“Tell young teachers plainly what you can do and what you can’t do. Take the ‘I, Spartacus’ moment away from the most vulnerable teachers.”
Jim O’Brien (Navan) pointed out that when it came to temporary teachers and contracts of indefinite duration, school stewards needed to be au fait with the entitlements of their union members. Not all were, he said.
The motions, one demanding that all teaching hours be included for the calculation of a contract of indefinite duration, and another demanding that priority in employment be given to unemployed teachers or those on less than 22 hours per week, were both passed.