Union membership

Airone

Hi all,

I have a question about Union membership. I have contacted the unions with no response yet. I was previously a union member until last year. However I think that I would like to rejoin a union as I felt last year that my voice was not heard being non-union (I am well aware this was my own doing). However, I'm unsure if I can actually join a union as there is currently a dispute. Does anyone know what the case is here?
Thanks in advance.

km79

Airone wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a question about Union membership. I have contacted the unions with no response yet. I was previously a union member until last year. However I think that I would like to rejoin a union as I felt last year that my voice was not heard being non-union (I am well aware this was my own doing). However, I'm unsure if I can actually join a union as there is currently a dispute. Does anyone know what the case is here?
Thanks in advance.

You can rejoin same Union but you will have to pay the subs you did not pay in the intervening period

evolving_doors

Airone wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a question about Union membership. I have contacted the unions with no response yet. I was previously a union member until last year. However I think that I would like to rejoin a union as I felt last year that my voice was not heard being non-union (I am well aware this was my own doing). However, I'm unsure if I can actually join a union as there is currently a dispute. Does anyone know what the case is here?
Thanks in advance.

You can join during a dispute, you can't however leave one union and join another during a dispute (I dunno how they would find out anyway).

Airone

Thanks for your replies. I may rejoin the ASTI then, as I don't believe the LRA is in the best interests of our profession. I must admit to being a bit disappointed though, because after 7 years of teaching a moving to 4 different counties I could finally see a CID contract in the near future, having interviewed again in the school I taught in last year and having been successful. Very disheartening.

gaiscioch

Airone wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. I may rejoin the ASTI then, as I don't believe the LRA is in the best interests of our profession. I must admit to being a bit disappointed though, because after 7 years of teaching a moving to 4 different counties I could finally see a CID contract in the near future, having interviewed again in the school I taught in last year and having been successful. Very disheartening.

I appreciate what you're saying and I've been in your position (I got mine after four years). However, when you get a CID but with working conditions that are far inferior to what teachers had, say, 10 years ago is it worth it? As somebody with a young family I know these conditions, most especially the Croke Park hours, have negatively impacted upon the quality of my life and have also resulted in poorer results from my weaker students (who formerly could have got after school help).

The bigger picture is that while we will keep the title of teacher, these "reforms" are attempting to make us form-filling, box-ticking administrators fulfilling bullshít targets set by people who have never taught in classes and who are merely copying the yellow-pack English system (which according to PISA is inferior to the Irish system, although the more we copy that system the poorer are our results.)

I know I certainly got into teaching to be a teacher, to inspire and to teach something I am passionate about. If I wanted to go into admin I would have joined the Civil Service and taken the incomparably greater opportunities for promotion, advancement and greater pay within it. Teachers have comparatively poor pay and poor opportunities for advancement (which partly explains why so many people leave teaching); we have had, however, comparatively good working conditions. Remove those conditions and instead of attracting people from the top 10% of every year teaching will deservedly attract people from the bottom 10% of every year. Money comes and goes. Once conditions go it is very, very hard to regain them. We are playing the long game here.

flandabieduzie

Could you be offered the CID if you were to remain out of a union?

evolving_doors

flandabieduzie wrote: »

Could you be offered the CID if you were to remain out of a union?

Presume you mean the ASTI.
You would think that being outside any union meant that you would be treated the same as TUI.... However, an article in the IT suggests that being outside a union isn't so straightforward (in terms of increments anyway!). So maybe the same applies for CIDs.

It's a bit of a curious one and I wonder why they took that decision?

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/non-union-teachers-face-penalties-due-to-industrial-row-1.2744308

joebloggs32

flandabieduzie wrote: »

Could you be offered the CID if you were to remain out of a union?

Circular issued already on this. If you are in a voluntary secondary school you will not get a 2 year CID regardless of wether or not you are in the union as the department will treat all staff in that sector the same. On the other hand if it's an ETB you will, even if not a union member
If you are in a C&C school you must sign a form to declare TUI membership so I presume if you don't then no 2 year CID.

spurious

What if you lie and say you are in the TUI when you're not?
The arrangement is so full of holes it's laughable.

r93kaey5p2izun

spurious wrote: »

What if you lie and say you are in the TUI when you're not?
The arrangement is so full of holes it's laughable.

The form says you are giving permission for them to use payroll data relating to union affiliation.

evolving_doors

Molly Wet Transgressor wrote: »

The form says you are giving permission for them to use payroll data relating to union affiliation.

You could just say you pay yer subs annually by cheque!

spurious

Gebgbegb wrote: »

You could just say you pay yer subs annually by cheque!

Exactly and lots of people do not go on DAS precisely because it is none of the business of the employer whether they are in the union or not.

TheDriver

You could lie but then its fraud. And you don't know when someone will dig it up to use against you, possibly your best friend in some appeal over posts in 20 years time. Just join TUI if it suits you too and it benefits you. If its a vol sec school, then there's nothing you can do.

Airone

Thanks for all the replies. The ASTI have confirmed there would be no problem joining them, but the TUI have yet to respond to me. I'm feeling very conflicted, but am determined to fight for better conditions for teachers, even if it does affect the stability I had been looking forward to and feel I deserve at this stage. Still feeling disheartened though and have been considering a change of profession of late.