Secondary school teachers vote today on additional hours

The country’s biggest secondary teachers union will today begin balloting on a proposal to cease working additional hours.

The ballot comes amid controversy about whether members are fully informed of the vote’s implications.

The additional 33 hours of non-teaching time agreed under the Croke Park pay deal are widely-despised within the profession and regarded by many as wasteful and unproductive.

A vote to cease working the hours could result in teachers losing thousands of euro in planned salary increases, increments and payments due for supervision and substitution.

However, some Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) branch members have complained that they have not been fully informed about the implications of a vote to reject the hours.

They say that while the union's official newsletter, Nuacht, contains details on how much teachers stand to lose financially, it does not detail potential consequences for temporary teachers. These include the possible loss of a right to permanency after two years under a deal negotiated within the Haddington Road framework.

“These are very big implications for newly qualified teachers whose livelihoods could be impacted negatively,” said one branch member, who declined to be named.

“All our members have a right to know exactly what they are voting for and against.”

Additional details

Another said their branch had been in contact with head office seeking additional details on potential implications not contained in the newsletter.

ASTI declined to respond to the concerns raised with The Irish Times. However, in a statement in recent days, the union said its newsletter on the Croke Park hours ballot was issued to all members and was available on the ASTI website.

“In addition, our 56 branches have been asked to hold information meetings in order to ensure members have access to all the information they require in order to make an informed decision on this matter,” it said.

“The ASTI is a vibrant trade union with members working in schools all over the country. The union is in continuous engagement with members through school, branch, regional and national structures. All decisions are made democratically through transparent and accountable structures and decision-making mechanisms.”

This statement was released in response to comments last week by Seán Ó Foghlú, secretary general of the Department of Education, at the annual conference of the Joint Managerial Body, which represents boards of management of two-thirds of secondary schools.

‘Extraordinary’

He said it was “extraordinary” that the union’s central executive committee had opted not to put full information on all the possible implications of such a vote before its members.

He acknowledged, however, that the union’s newsletter outlined some implications. Mr Ó Foghlú said the department will make information available online shortly regarding the potential consequences of repudiating the pay deal.

In contrast to the Teachers’ Union of Ireland, he said the ASTI had opted to ballot on Croke Park hours without entering into talks with the department to explore other choices.

The ASTI ballot on withdrawal from the Croke Park hours is due to take place from May 4th to May 18th. Members at the union’s annual convention last year unanimously supported a motion to cease working additional hours agreed under the Croke Park pay deal.

A succession of branch members told the convention the extra hours were a “petty and vindictive” move which were undermining time that could be spent on extra-curricular activities or class preparations.

The department, however, argues the hours enable school planning and outreach activities to be organised, without the need for school closures.