Leaders of TUI sure they will defeat motion to resign

The leaders of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) are confident they will defeat a motion that they should resign, at the union's annual congress in Bundoran today.

The vote of no confidence in the leadership, which is overshadowing the first day of the congress, has been tabled by six branches of the union.

It claims the leadership acted in an undemocratic manner and brought the union into disrepute by accepting the terms of the revised Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and calling off the special congress on pay in January.

"These decisions undermine the actions of our colleagues in the ASTI and assist the Government in its ongoing industrial dispute," the motion states.

"The leadership believes it will win this vote, and I expect it will win it by a large majority. There is essentially no substance to this motion," the general secretary, Mr Jim Dorney, said yesterday.

The leadership had not been shaken by the motion and was happy to debate such issues. "This is a very open and democratic union. I don't believe this motion is representative of the feeling in the union, but that remains to be seen," he said.

The motion was tabled by some of the union's biggest branches, including Dublin city and Dublin colleges. Limerick (community and comprehensive), Shannon, Co Wexford and Co Kildare are also supporting it.

Several other branches have also condemned the cancellation of the special congress on pay.

Mr Dorney said the executive had not acted undemocratically in cancelling the congress on pay, as last year it had been given a mandate to decide whether the revised PPF was satisfactory by way of a members' ballot. The executive found the changes in the PPF acceptable and called off the congress.

"The executive called the special congress and they called it off because a satisfactory outcome had been achieved. The branches could have called it again but didn't, so I don't see the point of the complaint," Mr Dorney said.

The TUI voted against the PPF in March last year, but the executive agreed to be bound by the will of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and have accepted its terms.

At the weekend Mr John MacGabhann, the TUI president, said he was anxious that the motion should not overshadow the main point of the congress. "The major theme was and remains the matter of pay," he said.

The no-confidence vote is tabled as a priority motion and will be the first item debated at the congress in Donegal this afternoon. A special congress on the disputed education/research officer appointment will take place this morning.