Teacher unions ASTI and TUI announce survey of members over possible mergerWhile the ASTI represents second level teachers only, the TUI’s membership also includes teachers in the further education and third level sectors. All members would be included in a merged union.
Traditionally, the ASTI represented the interests of teachers in voluntary secondary schools – mostly run by religious orders – while the TUI represented teachers in vocational, community and comprehensive schools, as well as the further education and third level sectors. In 2021, the ASTI said it received €280,000 from the TUI in a process aimed at bringing an end to the row.
An article in the ASTI’s journal, Astir, in 2021 described the row as “one of the most wretched events in Irish trade union history”.