The decision by the ASTI to defer a ban on supervision and substitution duties will be welcomed by parents and students. ASTI will review its position early next month after a consulation process with members about all aspects of its pay campaign. At the very least, it appears that members will be given an opportunity to vote on the Government's £27 per hour offer before any action is taken.
That is as it should be. For too long, the agenda of the main secondary teaching union has been run without due regard to the views of ordinary teachers. Last Friday, some 55 per cent of members voted for a withdrawal from voluntary supervision duties. But the ballot was hardly a model of democracy , as members had been denied an opportunity to vote on the Government's offer.
There are encouraging signs that ASTI is making good for some of its past mistakes. A school-by-school survey will begin shortly to find out what the union should do next . Many in the leadership of the union now acknowledge that the pay battle has been lost. With the economy tipping into a possible recession, the Government is in no mood to cut a special deal for the ASTI - even in the run-in to the election.
At this stage, the union, which remains isolated, would do well to make some kind of common cause with the other teaching unions - the INTO and the ASTI. In a powerful speech this weekend, the general-secretary designate of the INTO, Mr John Carr, pointed to the potential of the benchmarking system for his members. Like the ASTI, he wants a hefty pay increase for his members. Unlike the ASTI, the other teaching unions are engaged in a process which may deliver it.
The Government will hope that it new commission on teaching announced by the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, this weekend will help to boost the morale and status of the profession. It is a welcome initiative at a time when the morale of ASTI members has been depleted.
But ASTI also needs to help itself. After its disastrous pay campiagn, the union must begin to build bridges - and quickly.