FOLLOWING A SECOND vote on the Government pay deal, members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) have voted to accept the latest proposals under the Haddington Road Agreement.
A ballot of the union’s 17,000 members resulted in a 57 per cent to 43 per cent acceptance of the proposals.
Vote
The latest Haddington Road proposals contain a number of new commitments to teachers including a commitment to address the issue of the high number of teachers on short-term and part-time contracts, the establishment of a working group to consider the ASTI’s concern about junior cycle reform and a new agreement on best use of the Croke Park hours.
Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has welcomed the acceptance of the Haddington Road Agreement.
The ASTI rejected the deal in a vote in September which led to subsequent industrial action by teachers when they refused to attend meetings that took place outside of normal school hours or take on any extra duties without additional pay.
Union leader
Union leaders had urged secondary teachers to reject the new proposals, however commenting on the result today ASTI General Secretary Pat King said:
This is the third time that ASTI members have been balloted on the Haddington Road Agreement.These ballots have taken place in the context of five years of education cutbacks, deteriorating terms and conditions for teachers, and Government decisions to breach the Croke Park Agreement and unilaterally impose the draconian FEMPI (Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) legislation on ASTI members.
Members have had to make a most difficult decision.
He added that teachers will work to ensure that the new commitments in the deal are fully implemented within appropriate time frames.
He warned, however, that the ASTI has informed the Department of Education and Skills that “any failure by the Government to meet its commitments under the Haddington Road Agreement, including any delay in the implementation of those commitments, would be unacceptable to the ASTI and would be met with strong action from the union”.
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