The decisive rejection by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) of the Labour Court recommendation in their dispute increases the prospect of disruption to the summer exams. At this critical phase in the school year, ASTI plans to close schools for a further six days between now and Easter. The oral and practical exams, due to begin later this month, have already been rescheduled. It is scarcely credible that events have reached this pass. Over 60,000 Leaving Certificate students must plan for an examination which can have such a critical bearing on their future in a climate of great uncertainty. Yesterday, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, while acknowledging that there will be some disruption of the exams, moved to reassure students and parents that the exams will run to the customary high standards of supervision and assessment. It is to be hoped that he is right. But, in the absence of support from ASTI members, it will not be an easy task. The public will, rightly, be outraged by ASTI's speedy decision to dismiss the Labour Court proposal. As ASTI acknowledged in its original submission, the court has a proud record as a honest broker in industrial relations conflicts. On this occasion, the kind of serious reflection that normally accompanies the release of proposals from the court was conspicuous by its absence. A carefully crafted recommendation from the Labour Court was dismissed with scarcely a moment's reflection.
But the criticisms made by the court will not disappear. ASTI has still to explain fully its opposition to the Government's benchmarking pay review body. As the court points out, many of its central objections have been addressed. It is now abundantly clear that benchmarking will not herald performance-related pay. The timetable for the process itself has also been fast-tracked. A down-payment of any award made will be due from next December.
The court asked other searching questions of ASTI. Why are over 30,000 teachers in the INTO and the TUI working their broadly similar pay claims through benchmarking? How can ASTI members complain about lagging behind other graduates, and then refuse to be compared with them in the benchmarking process? It would be good to hear ASTI respond to these questions. It would be good to hear them explain why such highly regarded trade unionists as Senator Joe O'Toole of the INTO and Mr Jim Dorney of the TUI are happy to invest their considerable energies in benchmarking.
ASTI should be reassured and not outraged by the Labour Court findings. The court says teachers have a sustainable case for a decent increase. It accepts that teachers have fallen behind other graduates. Trade unionists would normally use these findings to press their case with confidence before the benchmarking body, which seems poised to deliver substantial pay increases for teachers. Instead, ASTI is ratcheting up its campaign without even balloting its members. After nurturing students for six years in secondary schools, it seems ready to abandon them at the most critical moment. Is this what the majority of dedicated teachers really want?