The Department of Education is today expected to refer the dispute over the new Junior Cert science course to an arbitrator, in a move that could jeopardise the forthcoming 10 per cent pay rise for teachers.
The Department will tell ASTI at a meeting that its ban on teaching the course is a breach of the national pay deal.
With ASTI set to rebut this, the issue will be forwarded to the arbitrator, whose finding will be binding on both sides. If the arbitrator finds that ASTI has breached the national pay deal, the union must withdraw its ban.
ASTI members are due to receive a further 10 per cent pay rise from the national pay deal and benchmarking in January.
However, this could be withheld if the Performance Verification Group (PVG), which monitors the implementation of the new "modernisation" agenda, takes the view that the ban on the science course represents industrial action.
Under the pay deal Sustaining Progress, all parties agree there should be "an absence of industrial action" over all matters covered by its terms. The PVG must decide if all conditions set out in the deal have been met.
ASTI is not represented on this group as it is not a member of the ICTU. However, it is seeking membership. The other teaching unions are represented by Mr John Carr, general secretary of the INTO, and Mr Jim Dorney, general secretary of the TUI.
ASTI says its action does not represent industrial action as its ban is motivated by health and safety fears for pupils and teachers. It says the ambitious new science course with its heavy stress on practical work cannot be implemented in dilapidated school labs.
The union wants a national programme to provide all schools with first-class lab facilities. It also wants school laboratory assistants and comprehensive inservice training for teachers.
