ASTI:The "deficiencies and inflexibility" of the current benchmarking arbitration process must not be used to isolate, obstruct and demean nurses, secondary teachers warned yesterday.
In a unanimous move, they voted to support the nurses' ongoing campaign for improved pay and conditions, as well as their right to negotiate outside of the benchmarking process.
Yesterday's meeting also heard calls for the wider trade union movement, including the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), to support the nurses' position.
The ASTI is the first member of Ictu to come out in this way in support of the nurses' campaign.
An emergency motion put before delegates in the morning expressed "solidarity with and support of our fellow trade unionists".
"Convention supports the right of the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) to negotiations outside of the benchmarking process," the motion stated.
"The deficiencies and inflexibility of the current benchmarking arbitration process must not be used to isolate, obstruct and demean a caring profession."
Speaking in support of the motion, standing committee member Joe Moran said a major argument in support of the ASTI's decision to re-affiliate with Ictu last year was the idea of trade union solidarity.
While the ASTI's primary role was to address education and teaching issues, there was also a need for it to have a wider role in society, rather than being just a "passive force".
Bernard Lynch, from Dublin south branch, pointed out that members had rejected the current national partnership deal, Towards 2016, and it had not made a "blind bit of difference".
He called on both Siptu and Ictu to back the nurses' campaign, claiming that the single biggest obstacle to a resolution of the disagreement was not the Government or others but Ictu, which "behind closed doors" is supporting pay deals that are "destroying the public service".
The current action by the nurses "is right, it's justified, and it's long overdue", he said.
Margaret Moore from Dublin northeast said the union had never taken its lead from other teacher unions such as the TUI and the INTO.
She called on the union to "lead by example", pointing out that the ASTI had not joined Ictu to be compliant, passive and "well behaved". "We joined it to shake it up," she said.
The conference also discussed the situation of lesbian, gay and bisexual second-level teachers. Assistant general secretary Maire Mulcahy highlighted a clause in the Employment Equality Act which allows for action to be taken to prevent an employee or prospective employee from undermining the religious ethos of an institution.
She was aware that many people's reaction to the clause was that it had never been used.
But she said its existence meant there is an "extra cudgel" to level at gay, lesbian and bisexual teachers, and was a statement that they are somehow less trustworthy in their capacity to transmit the values of the school.
The session debated a report from the union's advisory committee concerning the community and comprehensive school sector.
While recognising the need for "total vigilance" in the area of child protection, the report noted reservations about the degree of disclosure required by teachers.
It also expressed concern about the "unjustifiable absence" of teacher representatives on boards of management of comprehensive schools falling under Church of Ireland stewardship.
John Hurley from Limerick south labelled the lack of teacher membership of these boards as "indefensible". What "cataclysmic event" would take place if this were to happen, he asked, adding that he would be calling for industrial action in the schools in question if the issue was not resolved.