Two of the best-known teacher union officials are set for top vice-presidency posts in the near future. Charlie Lennon, general secretary of the ASTI, is one of the four in-coming vice-presidents of Education International, the world teacher union body with over 23 million members. And Senator Joe O'Toole of the INTO will be running for election as vice-president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions next year.

O'Toole's experience to date, as an independent senator, includes having a significant political influence in securing the PCW package. He has also served as a member of the ICTU's women's committee - and, representing the INTO, he fought and won the first test case taken by a women teacher under the Employment Equality Act.

Lennon, who became general secretary of the ASTI in 1991, will be appointed as one of four vice presidents of Education International in July. There are just four nominations, representing the United States, Africa, Australasia and Europe, in already to fill the four vice-presidency posts in the EI so the candidates will be automatically appointed. The world body for teachers has over 23 million members in some 146 countries. It has a regional committee for Europe.

The EI action programme between 1997 and 1999 deals with early childhoold education, teachers' pay, vocational training, trade union and human rights, support for unions in the emerging democracies of eastern Europe and seeking to develop relations with the Council of Europe.

O'Toole, general secretary of the INTO, will put his hat into the ring as vice-president of the ICTU when its elections come around next year. If elected, his two-year tenure as vice-president, which is likely to be followed by a two-year stint as president, would include being at the helm during the key negotiations following on from the Partnership 2000 deal.