Sir, - Certain officers of the three teachers' unions seem to think that if the outcome of benchmarking is unsatisfactory it can be rejected by the unions which have accepted it and that they can then embark on industrial action.
I would draw their attention to the written text of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. It states, on page 35, under the heading "Industrial Peace and Stabilisation":
1. This agreement (a) provides that no cost-increasing claims by trade unions or employees for improvements in pay or conditions of employment. . .will be made or processed during the currency of the Agreement;
(b) commits employers, trade unions and employees to promoting industrial harmony; and
(c) precludes strikes or other forms of industrial action by trade unions, employees or employers in respect of any matters covered by this Agreement, where the employer or trade union concerned is acting in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
Perhaps the practising teachers in the classrooms, the vast majority of whom rejected the PPF and benchmarking despite the spin being put on them, were wiser than their officers. - Yours, etc.,
SEÁN FALLON (ASTI member), Killakee Walk, Dublin 24.