The Government has cut our pay.
It has put teachers out of work.
It has imposed pay levies and new taxes on us.
It has removed funding from the Education System.

Now it wants us to work for nothing.

Promotion posts in Education are not simply the regrading of existing employees.  They are jobs.  In removing promotion posts from the system they are removing vital services from students, with the bluntest possible instrument.

The announcement of the moratorium on promotion posts in the public service came with an instruction to keep the service in full operation.  For years our professional commitment to the welfare of our students has been exploited by the Government, who knew that we would do our best to muddle through with scarce resources on the basis of good will and optimism.  They have responded with bad faith and brazen hostility.

We must act decisively.  We have insisted that the ICTU publicly condemns and opposes this moratorium.

We have directed our members not to accept an unpaid increase in workload, either by accepting additional duties within existing posts of responsibility, or by taking on post duties to which they have not been appointed.

Members must accept that they cannot prevent the loss of service to students.  They must accept that parents and the public will have to be informed of the reality of the effect of this Government action.

We must ensure that this directive, which has been imposed by the ASTI as well, is adhered to in all second level schools and in all colleges. We must ensure that our response is not paralysed by the traditional argument that if a school admits to a deterioration in service, it will be exploited by other opportunist schools competing for students.