Madam, - I bet that quite a few second-level teachers don't realise just how expensive the dubious privilege of ASTI annual membership has become: in my book, €293.80 is quite a substantial sum. It would be OK if the ASTI was an outfit of which one could be proud (as it used to be). Today I'm afraid that hens' teeth could more easily be discovered than "ordinary" ASTI members who actually like their trade union and look forward to their branch meetings!
The sad reality is that most teachers regard the ASTI as an embarrassing four-letter word, and its recent history as a catalogue of disasters - the campaign for a 30 per cent rise, the supervision and substitution débâcle, the withdrawal of the ban on the new Junior Cert science course, etc., etc.
The latest rebuke by the Labour Court to our trade union over the disgraceful treatment of ASTI employees is perhaps what is needed to galvanise "ordinary" members to attend union meetings and to demand answers to awkward questions, such as "what exactly is going on in our head office?", or "exactly what value am I getting for my €293.80?"
If the Labour Court has told us ASTI members to "get our house in order", then that is what we as employers must do. The first stage in the process of restoring our trade union to some semblance of normality is for each of us to shake off this feeling of helplessness, which seems to afflict so many teachers. Then we must make the effort to turn up to every union meeting between now and the Easter Convention, in order to regain ownership of the ASTI. - Yours, etc.,
PIERCE H. PURCELL, (ASTI President 1973-74), Clonmel, Co Tipperary.