Woman in the eye of a storm

A soft-spoken Donegal-born teacher of deaf students seems an unlikely candidate to be at the centre of a national storm. However, Bernadine O'Sullivan is also a woman in a powerful position. As president of the ASTI, with its 16,000 members, she is a prominent player in the current negotiations for the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF).

It's unusual to find the president of the ASTI at the centre of such negotiations. The presidency lasts for one year - the teacher has a year off school, is usually asked to identify a few issues, runs with those, goes on a few trips, attends an international conference or two and lets the union officials, who are full-time employees, get on with the "real business" of running the union.

Cast as a hero or a villain, depending on your viewpoint, O'Sullivan is seen as spearheading a campaign for a 30 per cent pay rise for teachers and many believe she engineered the ASTI's controversial walk out of ICTU. In the process, the ASTI has been split apart with the general secretary, who wished the union to stay in Congress, being out-manoeuvred.

O'Sullivan is at pains to point out that the standing committee of the ASTI put a motion asking for a 20 per cent rise to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) which then upped the claim to 30 per cent. She says the vote to leave ICTU was 97 to 54. She would suggest these mandates prove she is not alone in her views.

One observer notes that the decisions of standing committee are often rejected by CEC but, this year, decisions are being endorsed. "Bernadine O'Sullivan is tapping into something in teachers that has long been unexpressed," she says.

O'Sullivan (nee Thomas) was educated in Frosses National School, Scoil na gCeithre Mhaistir, Donegal town, and UCD. Having completed a degree in English, history and philosophy, she did a H.Dip and a diploma in the education of the deaf. She is married to a history teacher. They had two children who are now aged 20 and 15.

The two organisations she says she is proud to belong to are the Catholic Church and ASTI, both of which have contributed hugely to Irish education.

She has a long history of union activism, attending the annual Easter conventions from 1980. In 1993, she ran for election to the standing committee, garnering 250 votes, one of the highest totals ever. She attributes her popularity to her insistence on the centrality of the classroom teacher and the pupil-teacher relationship. Two years ago, she was nominated as vice-president by 35 branches. This year's candidates currently have 18, 10 and six nominations each.

She is described as astute about people, and very hardworking. A plain talker, she is said to "have no difficulty with saying unpleasant things to the officials in the Department of Education, when necessary".

The "implosion within the ASTI" over the pay issue has had wider repercussions. An optimistic article in last December's TUI News entitled "Teacher unity - why we should say yes", complete with a picture of three smiling presidents (INTO, TUI and ASTI) would now raise a somewhat derisive laugh. INTO and TUI have stayed in ICTU when ASTI pulled out.

This is seen by one seasoned trade unionist as a "disaster tactically and strategically; the 30 per cent pay claim can't be pursued without some united front by the three teacher unions". TUI has since voted against PFP but stays within ICTU and will, presumably, abide by its decision.

Others suggest teacher salaries would never rise if ASTI stayed in ICTU. One member said "the teaching profession is literally going to die if teachers are not paid a reasonable salary. This could only be achieved by leaving Congress." The recent front-page banner headline in the Irish Independent "Teachers' leader in secret `hit exams' bid" has shown up O'Sullivan's lack of understanding of the need for public support, according to one source. The Leaving Cert is a sacred cow - anything threatening it is unlikely to win sympathy from the 60,000 students and their extended families.

The document, in which she speculated on the possibility of a "threat to the Leaving Cert exam", was not meant to be circulated publicly and is widely believed to have been leaked by people anxious to discredit her.

The subsequent vote of confidence in O'Sullivan was passed but, as one source said, the mere fact of that vote was damaging.

However, others maintain that support for O'Sullivan is undiminished. In fact, the subsequent publicity did much for the teachers' cause.

Although her interests, as listed in the ASTI magazine, ASTIR, April 1999, include "the media (especially education media)" O'Sullivan is not seen as particularly media-savvy. Her recent appearance on Prime Time has been criticised as an airing of internal union strife in public rather than a statement of the teachers' grievances, while her insistence on the difference between tabling and circulating a motion was described as "Clintonesque" in its hair-splitting. However, others claim she performed well in difficult circumstances.

The ASTI has always been a topdown union, according to sources, and, for the past two or three years, a group of people have been trying to change the modus operandi. The previous president, Michael Corley, is said to have begun the process that O'Sullivan is now continuing, on a much more public scale. The new president-elect Don McCluskey is expected to continue in a similar vein.

Just as importantly, the majority on standing committee and the Central Executive Committee who support O'Sullivan's views will still be in place. As past president O'Sullivan will be a member of standing committee for a further year.

Meanwhile, she has some months of her presidency to complete. Traditionally, the new president is elected at the Easter congress and takes up office in August.