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THE ASTI HAS said that strikes are an option on the table as it begins to ballot members for industrial action due to Covid-19 safety concerns in schools.
The secondary school teachers’ union said yesterday that a number of “key issues” had emerged since schools reopened that cause concern.
Issues raised include physical distancing in schools, provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), the definition of close contacts, comprehensive testing and testing turnaround times, provisions for high risk teachers , and IT resources for students and teachers to facilitate remote teaching and learning.
Asked on on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland whether strike action is being considered, ASTI general secretary Kieran Christie said it cannot be ruled out.
“Well, we want to keep schools open, and obviously the form of the industrial action could be up to an including strike action, but it may take other forms,” he said.
Those decisions have not been made and won’t be made for some several weeks until the balloting process has been completed.
As well as the issues listed above, Christie raised particular concern about teachers from at-risk groups being exposed in classrooms.
“Most especially the problems that are associated with teachers who are in their high risk health category, who find themselves operating in classrooms with maybe 30 students, and so on. In tight conditions and obviously it’s a very difficult position for them to be operating in,” he said.
He added there have already been cases of Covid-19 in schools with teachers not being provided with adequate information about whether they are a close contact.
“For instance a case could be, as has happened already, identified within a school and nobody sure what’s going on. Everybody is probably well aware of that they’ve been in a room for well in excess of the 15 minutes that would normally be regarded as the period of time for close contacts. The lack of information and the anxiety that that creates on itself is as a major problem for us.”
After how the front line workers in hospitals, supermarkets, public transport etc have put themselves at risk to provide vital services during these awful times and the teachers threaten strikes…….shambles
@WiseUp: That ASTI appears to be very Militant , no need for strikes now, things are bad enough .
@WiseUp: one td gets tested for CV19 and the dail gets shut down-albeit temporarily but Teachers in class not considered a close contact if a child in their class tests positive? Teachers are right in this instance.
@WiseUp: exactly. Can we have the same as them please???
@WiseUp: Firstly, members have not been consulted. No teachers are considering strikes. The union have gone on a solo run here without consulting their members. So the teachers are not threatening it here, the union is.
Secondly, comparing other jobs to each other is never a good comparison as each job is different, involves different knowledge when taking the job, different training and involves being around different people for different amount of times. Comparisons here are not like for like.
@Patrick Croke: The Union haven’t gone on a solo run without consulting their members – the article says they are balloting (consulting) their members. They’re not threatening a strike unless the members vote to threaten.
@Susan Adair Farrelly: They’re right to have and raise concerns, everyone should be safe in work but in my opinion the talk and threat of strike is an absolute disgrace.
@WiseUp: completely different systems in hospitals, retail units etc. Wise up
@Aine O’callaghan: The point is that people are making the best of what they can and looking for solutions not threats of strike. Maybe you should wise up a wee bit……
Teachers had the luxury of spending 6 months in the safety of their own homes while the rest of the country kept the show on the road while risking their lives when there was no clarity to any safety concerns!…i.e healthcare staff, frontline workera, supermarket employees, it’s endless…….Get on with it!!!!.
@George McCarthy: That to be fair was mostly to keep children safe, while I understand teachers are concerned about themselves and I cant say I blame them as a parent I’m more concerned about children, the fact that it’s taking teachers to point out safety concerns and not a majority of parents shows just how far down the rabbit hole we are.
@George McCarthy: happy to but we should also get the same conditions.
You don’t see any other sector or group of workers threatening strike action with the risks they are exposed to during covid pandemic…… won’t get public support on this one teachers
@karen: secondary teachers..its important to highlight it’s some and its secondary. Primary and special ed are bussiness as usual
@Lisa Quinn: and it’s important to add the union just put this out on their own with no consultation with teachers who are on the frontline. I don’t want to strike and neither do my colleagues, this is disgraceful from the union. It’s still business as usual in secondary as well Lisa.
@Lisa Quinn: it’s ASTI, TUI are saying nothing, and in a lot of cases they work side by side in same schools.
@Laura Ni Hearga: great! Good for you. !( this seems passive aggressive it’s not I’m being sound)
@Eugene Comaskey: yea forsa arrnt piping up either. I remember from wen I was in secondary school the asti were hard for striking.
@karen: cos none of them are being treated the same as teachers.
@Lisa Quinn: it’s business as usual for all educators. Asti doesn’t represent all secondary teachers and theres special ed teachers in secondary too.
@Graham Manning: ASTI represent the majority of Sec teachers.
@Brendan Greene: did I say they didn’t? And actually the Asti has been haemorrhaging members recently so them and the TUI are about equal size.
As a secondary school teacher and a member of the ASTI, this absolutely sickens me. We as members have not been consulted by the ASTI…. again. This is not the view of the teacher on the ground. There is a worry about a lack of PPE, the fact that 30 students are often in a small unventilated room for long periods when only 6 are permitted to visit someone’s house, and the fact that slow test results mean it’s hard to tell just how far the virus could spread in a short timeframe in busy schools. However no teacher I have talked to has considered a strike. This is our time to stand up and help society to continue. As for the ASTI….. who constantly seem to be going on a solo run without talking to teachers….. I for one and cancelling my union membership.
@Fergal Lyons: Well said there, – no consultation, – those at the helm appear to be out of touch with reality. I’m sure more members feels as you do, and they need to speak out.
@Fergal Lyons: Who instructs the ASTI if it’s not the teachers
@Fergal Lyons: the ballot is the consultation. Just vote no
@Tim: the ASTI board seem to be working independently of teacher voice… it’s not the first time
@Graham Manning: Agreed, and teacher will. It’s just a pity that this perception of teachers is being put out there when it isn’t the truth on the ground. I’m sure the ballot will speak for itself.
@Fergal Lyons: Why do you pay them?
@Tim: standing Committee agreed to ballot teachers. No mention of strike
Oh here we go.
If all the teachers who are members of ASTI are disgusted with their unions behaviour why don’t they all cancel their membership and we would be shut of ASTI once and for all. ASTI are a national disgrace, everyone else has just got on with it in difficult circumstances and I expect most teachers would be the same, but the teachers are now being tarred with the ASTI brush. Start a campaign to eradicate ASTI.
Ha! some chance of rapid turnaround test times (not) dublin fire service paramedics who are manning ambulances dealing with covid cases 24/7 weren’t even afforded fast track tests never mind results…
Audrey on RTE fairly grilled that Union man this morning, who had no answers to simple Q’s, but had plenty of uums, aams and so ons.
Great interviewing!
You’d quite reasonably have expected the data on key numbers from nationwide schools to flow up to him as General Secretary from his organization’s members.
Less whining, more substance required to elicit any real sympathy from the Public on this one!
@Rory J Leonard: yeah it was all anecdotal nonsense, he had no data, just had talked to a few teachers who suffer from anxiety
Teachers have the best Union on the planet. 6 months at home on full pay… That a union would ever consider this is shameful…
@Tom Kennedy: Loads of people are at home on full pay – it’s called “working from home”. It’s the preferred method for everyone under national covid guidelines .
Not one single teacher has got covid yet in a school environment but you go strike you selfish …..
@Eamon: not true. There have been many teacher positive cases. Do a bit more research.
@Eamon: comment sections are great arent they? You can make up any old statistic you like to support your view. If you want the facts do a little research. Your assertion is wrong.
Their concerns are legitimate and my understanding is that they are going to ballot all their members. Surely this is the best way of consulting teachers
@Joe campbell: I think the problem is that ASTI have had 9 months to raise these concerns, engage with DoE and have the necessary measures put in place to their satisfaction. Instead it seems like they have waited until week 2 of school resumption to raise concerns about class sizes and vulnerable teachers. Did class sizes just increase over the Summer? It looks like they don’t have the support of their members for a strike, so in the current circumstances, and there having been little classes to speak of since April, it will be interesting to see what action they will propose without getting a hammering from the public.
@GrumpyAulFella: all issues have been raised by multiple unions, some of them for years. Dept, Minister and gov just craic on ignoring reality and this is where it leads.
@Graham Manning: I agree but there was 5-6 months for the union and DoE to sort this out. If they needed PPE why didn’t they request it back in May? Why didn’t they discuss vulnerable teachers with DoE over the past 5-6 months instead of waiting until the second week back and then threatening a strike? Again they have lost any goodwill that the public may have had for their plight.
@GrumpyAulFella: the plan for reopening of schools was released 2 weeks before the start of the school year, so not quite 6 months. and the government knew exactly how many students and teachers there are in the country, so how is it the school’s fault for not having it ready? back in May it wasnt even clear if schools would reopen.
i think strike is ridiculous, and i doubt teachers will vote for it, but being stuck in an unventilated room with 30 people for hours at a time sounds risky to me. i dont envy them.
@GrumpyAulFella: every ounce of that is the Dept, Minister and gov not the union.
@GrumpyAulFella: the big problem here is that up to 1 week before schools opening the department were still issuing updated and revised guidelines. Many schools didnt have the necessary PPE when it came to opening time because the schools were only allowed purchase from a set list of suppliers who couldnt cope with the order demand. The government had the equivalent amount of time to issue guidelines but didnt. I genuinely feel for teachers in this situation. They want to be working and teaching but they want our children and themselves to be safe also.
There’s usually only one way to cure all the issues in any public sector. Pay Rise. Pay rises usually quell bad working conditions just ask the nurses, that’s how they fixed their working conditions
Just look at the articles for ASTI on the journal over the past months.
http://www.thejournal.ie/asti/news/
That union does nothing but moan and moan.
Teachers might strike! Now there’s a surprise.
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