Strong opposition to the proposed national pay agreement is emerging in a ballot of primary teachers, with the INTO struggling to secure support for the deal, especially in Dublin.
On Monday the Dublin North East branch voted 80-20 against the deal, and last week Dublin North, the largest INTO branch in the Republic, also rejected the deal by a wide margin. There has been stronger support for the deal in rural areas; the question now is whether this will be sufficient to outweigh opposition in Dublin.
Rejection by the INTO could have serious implications for the Government's pay strategy ahead of the special ICTU conference on the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF) in two weeks' time.
The INTO has 19 votes at the special congress, fewer than the big unions like SIPTU and Mandate, but still a significant figure. The Government's chief concern is that rejection by the INTO could damage support for the PPF among other unions.
The INTO, the only teaching union to recommend acceptance of the deal, appears to have been surprised by the tide of opinion against the PPF. According to the Minister for Education the deal will deliver a 19 per cent increase for teachers over its 33-month duration, and a cumulative 29 per cent when the tax changes in the Budget are included.
Aside from these benefits, the PPF also gives teachers many of the measures that they have been demanding for some time, including additional supports for school principals and the appointment of an extra 1,500 teachers at both primary and second level.
The PPF also holds out the promise of additional payments for teachers under a "bench marking" system, where teachers' pay would be linked to pay levels in the private sector. This could, for example, see teachers being rewarded for their role in school planning or for adopting curriculum changes.
Government sources admit to being shocked and mystified by the response thus far of INTO members.