TUI chief says members will pay courtesy to ASTI colleagues

The head of the TUI says his members will pay courtesy to their ASTI colleagues when the union stages industrial action from next week.

The ASTI has scheduled seven days of strikes from next Thursday, and the withdrawal of supervision from November 7 in a dispute over pay for newer members of the profession.

Tomorrow, the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools will meet again to discuss how the planned action will affect its member schools where the teaching staff has members of both the ASTI and TUI.

General Secretary of the TUI John MacGabhan, says in cases of schools with dual-union membership, it's up to the Board of Management to decide whether or not to open on strike days.

"They are making them take into consideration all of the variables and all of the pertinent circumstances, including the number of staff they have available to them and the valuability of going ahead with that number of staff.

"So, we can't purport to intrude on what properly is their decision-making function - we ourselves will observe the normal courtesies, protocols and practice that guide trade union relations."