The ASTI is expected to seek clarification tomorrow of some aspects of the Labour Court pay recommendation rejected almost a fortnight ago, in a new effort to break the deadlock in its pay dispute with the Government. The possibility is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the union's Standing Committee tomorrow, following comments by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in the Dáil today. Mr Ahern said that he had no intention of negotiating as long as the ASTI insisted the dispute was about breaking the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, and the benchmarking process. There have also been moves which could result in the appointment of a mediator. Secondary teachers staged the first day of a two-day strike, again closing more then 600 schools.
The ASTI has called on second level students and their parents to contact their public representatives and demand that the Government talk to the striking teachers. The ASTI General Secretary, Charlie Lennon, said that he is astounded that after more than five months of industrial action, the Government is refusing to negotiate with the ASTI.
Meanwhile, students have handed in a letter of protest to the ASTI headquarters in Dublin. Earlier, students gathered outside the Dáil as part of a protest to coincide with the two-day teachers’ strike. The action, in support of a 30% pay claim, has closed more than 600 schools. The Taoiseach has said that he will not negotiate with the secondary teachers union, ASTI, as long as it maintains its opposition to the PPF and to the benchmarking process.
Bertie Ahern told the Dáil that if the Association moved to the position taken by all other sectors of the industrial relations world on pay issues, then he would try to help. Mr Ahern, who was responding to calls from opposition leaders for his intervention in the dispute, referred to remarks made by a former ASTI president this morning who said they were not interested in benchmarking or in the PPF. He told the House he could not negotiate on those terms and he would not do so.
The National Association of Deaf People and the National Council for the Blind have appealed to the union reconsider its ban on exam work. On RTÉ radio, the ASTI General Secretary, Charlie Lennon, said that it would be extremely difficult to organise any exemption for students with special needs.
The Department of Education advertised in yesterday's newspapers for supervisors for this year's Leaving and Junior certificate exams. Last night they said they had had a huge response, with more 1,000 calls from members of the public within the first few hours. In all there are normally about 4,000 exam centres, needing roughly 4,500 supervisors. Today the ASTI stepped up its strike action, with its first two-day strike. Classes will remain shut down until Friday morning.
Sinn Féin has accused the Government of "sitting back, washing its hands of responsibility and playing students and parents off against the secondary teachers to try and break the ASTI dispute". Sinn Féin spokesperson, Cllr Seán Crowe, said that the Government needed to help solve the problem by holding peace talks without preconditions.
