The main second-level teachers union has threatened to block the payment of the 19 per cent pay rise included in the new national pay deal to other teacher unions in the latest development in its pay strategy.
The move by the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland breaches the traditional solidarity of the teachers' unions on pay and has incensed the primary teachers' union - the Irish National Teachers' Organisation - and the Teachers' Union of Ireland.
The ASTI is currently seeking a 30 per cent pay rise and intends to ballot for industrial action if the Government does not grant it. In a confidential discussion document tabled before its standing committee, the ASTI suggests it should be ready to invoke a special clause in the teachers' code for industrial relations which says major decisions can only be taken by all three unions together.
A strict reading of the clause would mean the 25,000 INTO members and 10,000 TUI members could lose out on the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness - even if their unions back the deal at a special conference next week.
However, other sources said last night it was not clear how the ASTI would be able to prevent the other unions availing of the terms.
The president of the TUI, Mr Joe Carolan, said "it is appalling that the ASTI is even looking at this possibility". He added: "Our members will not be held to ransom by the ASTI." The general secretary of the INTO, Senator Joe O'Toole, said his union would not be "dictated" to by anyone and he did not believe ASTI members would deny INTO members the pay rises contained in PPF.
A clause in the teachers' conciliation and arbitration scheme adopted last January appears to allow one union to veto a proposal if an issue is one of "singular and exceptional importance to the sector". In this case, it says, the "assent" of all three unions is required. Both the INTO and the TUI are now balloting members on the pay deal. The results of the INTO vote hangs in the balance; the TUI results will be known later this week.
Meanwhile, the ASTI denied the Leaving Certificate examinations will be disrupted through industrial action by second-level teachers this year.
The president of ASTI, Ms Bernadine O'Sullivan, assured parents exams would take place as normal. She dismissed a report of a "secret" plan by teachers to withdraw co-operation with the exams.