Industrial action could hit school sport events from September
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) annual convention decided last week to advise its 18,000 members to withdraw from unpaid substitution work in the autumn as it continues its pay dispute with the Department of Education.
While the exact intentions or impacts remain to be seen, and could depend on what funding is put in place by the department for contingency arrangements, the ability to allow teachers be absent on schools business is almost certain to be restricted.
The kinds of activities for which schools call on teachers to cover the absence of colleagues include bringing school teams to matches, debates, or to take part in student competitions.
It also covers absences for classes going on trips for state exams in subjects like geography, art, and biology, or to see prescribed plays for the English syllabus.
The supervision and substitution (S&S) scheme is used to provide cover for classes where a teacher is on uncertified sick leave, until they return or when an outside substitute teacher can be hired in.
The likely reliance on more substitute teachers may cause additional problems as schools already have difficulty finding suitable replacements for Irish and other subjects.
ASTI withdrew from all S&S work in November, forcing hundreds of the schools where they work to close on health and safety grounds for a day.
The action was suspended when conciliation talks to resolve this and other disputes began, and remains suspended even after the outcome of the talks was rejected narrowly in an ASTI ballot in February.
The union’s annual conference decided last week to instead withdraw only from the substitution duties covered by the S&S scheme from September.
The stated intention was that it gives schools and the department enough time to make contingency arrangements and avoid further closures.
The organisation representing the 370 religious-owned voluntary secondary schools said it awaits more detail of what is planned in the autumn.
“We have notified the department that we would like some clarification of what’s intended, so they will have to meet with the ASTI before we can assess the situation fully,” said Joint Managerial Body (JMB) general secretary John Curtis.
The supervision and substitution duties which were made mandatory from September 2013 were previously the basis for an extra payment of almost €1,800 a year.
Under the Haddington Road Agreement, accepted by all other public-sector unions, the work became part of a teachers’ core duties.
A phased reinstatement of pay equivalent to that amount to teachers’ salaries began last autumn.
ASTI members are not receiving the increase because they stopped doing the 33 hours’ extra work under the lapsed Croke Park pay agreement.
