The Association of Secondary School Teachers Ireland (ASTI) has agreed to suspend its campaign of one-day strikes for one week.
The decision followed a three-hour meeting of ASTI’s Standing Committee today.
ASTI's rolling one-strike action saw schools shut for a day in three regions and was to resume on Tuesday with a one-day strike in Connacht and Ulster ( ASTI strike action).
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Four members of the ASTI Standing Committee
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Yesterday the union agreed to return to talks with the Labour Relations Commission's Mr Tom Pomphrett "as quickly" as possible after it accepted an offer put forward by the Taoiseach on Wednesday.
He said due to the complexity of the issues involved, it was "not possible for anybody to predict a date for completion at this point".
The dispute was in deadlock over the issue of pay docked for member’s work-to-rule action before Christmas. The Taoiseach offered to refund the money if the teachers resumed talks.
Last night, the Minister for Education Dr Michael Woods, said if talks start immediately the refund will be made to teachers next week.
While yesterday’s development was welcomed by all sides as a significant breakthrough, the most difficult issues of the dispute have now to be addressed.
The biggest stumbling block to resolving ASTI’s 30 per cent pay claim is the union’s rejection of the Programme of Prosperity and Fairness and the new benchmarking pay review body.