Reasons to vote No on HRA:

We carried out all duties asked of us under the Croke park agreement. The government broke that agreement and are now trying to bully us into HRA using threats and misinformation. S S will be free and compulsory for !"# of people and will continue $indefinitely% & you will do it for the rest of your career with no option of opting out. 'ou will also receive no payment in (anuary for the S S you have done until now & you have done it for free. )ote *+ and you will receive a payment for S S in (anuary. ,nder HRA there will be much less S S for people on low hours -younger teachers./ that use these hours to boost their wages each week. Teachers providing S S cover in T,0 schools have already been let go. Croke 1ark hours will return. All hours that have been missed will have to be completed. This means regular evenings until 2pm from Christmas to (une. We will start co operating with in3service for the new (unior Cert. This means the new (C will be rolled out and we will be able to do very little to stop it/ or have any say in the way it will work. 0t is against the law to discriminate against workers on the basis of being members of a trade union. 0f the government were to enforce compulsory redundancies on AST0 members only/ this would be legally challenged. AST0 members have voted this agreement down on two previous occasions by a large ma4ority. 0f we accept it now we will look weak 3 a profession with little resolve that can be manipulated by bullying tactics.

Reasons to vote yes to HRA:

We will not get a better deal & This is speculation 3 predicting the future. This is not a factual reason to vote *+. We may get a better deal. We may not. We are on our own & The AST0 have always been alone own during disputes. This is nothing new. We were on our own in 5""6 and won. There are AST0 members in !7# of schools. We are far from isolated. I do not want to go on strike & A *+ does not guarantee full strike action and school closures. This is speculation. However/ if it did short term strike action would add up to much less work than 89 S S hours and 99 Croke 1ark hours for the rest of a teacher:s career. )isit www.AST0fightback.com for more information and updates

The following have been imposed on teachers since the onset of the economic crisis in 2008:
3 1ay cut averaging 2.;# -public sector pay cut. 3 1ublic service pension levy averaging !.;# 3 *on3payment of 9.;# pay increase due in September 5""7 under Towards 5"62 3 *on3payment of a 5.;# pay increase due in September 5"6" under Towards 5"62 3 0nferior pay scale for teachers entering from 5"66 3 Cut in <ualification allowances for teachers entering from =ecember 5"66 3 Abolition of <ualification allowances for teachers entering from >ebruary 5"65 3 A 8# cut in pensions for retired teachers 3 0nferior pension scheme for teachers entering from (anuary 8/ 5"69 3 An additional 99 hours of non3teaching work per year 3 An e?tra rota period for teachers doing supervision and substitution 3 Reduced supervision and substitution payment for teachers entering from 5"663 S@S commitment increased from 9! hours to 87 hours for teachers entering from >ebruary 5"65 3 =is3improvements to certified and uncertified sick leave arrangements 3 =is3improvements to maternity leave arrangements for teachers 3 Aoss of Barly Retirement Strands 0/ 00 and 000 3 0ncreases in pupil3teacher ratioC fewer teachers in school 3 Abolition of e?3<uota guidance counsellor provision 3 Doratorium on 1osts of ResponsibilityC no promotional opportunities for ma4ority of teachers 3 Hundreds of teachers redeployed 3 Cuts in capitation fundingC continued cuts announced up until 5"6; 3 )isiting teachers for Travellers service abolished 3 Withdrawal of many Bnglish language teachers 3 Removal of Elegacy: disadvantage support teachers from some schools

O r pay! wor"ing conditions! and ed cation as a whole have been torn to pieces between 2008 and 20#$% &o'operating and entering into agreements with the government is not wor"ing% A new approach is needed% (ote NO to HRA%