The Prospect of widespread industrial action by secondary teachers, including possible disruption of next year's exams, has increased significantly after the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, firmly rejected a demand for a 30 per cent pay increase.
Moves to set in train the campaign by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) are due to begin as early as next Friday when its executive meets. In September the ASTI is set to withhold co-operation from any new Department of Education programmes, but stands ready to intensify its action if the Government fails to respond.
Demands for industrial action dominated the ASTI annual conference where Dr Woods was subject to some heckling when he pleaded with the union to process any pay claim through the bench-marking mechanism of the new national pay deal.
By contrast, the vice-president-elect of ASTI, Ms Catherine Fitzpatrick, was cheered when she declared: "We will not rule out any kind of industrial action. We mean business. It's payback time."
The other teaching unions, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) and the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI), will over the coming months push for significant pay increases over and above the 18 per cent in the new pay deal, using the bench-marking mechanism.
The ASTI, however, walked out of negotiations on the national pay deal and will play no part in the bench-marking review, which is not due to report until late 2002.
Dr Woods said the benchmarking body would begin its work immediately. Asked about the possible threat to the exams he said: "I just hope the young children won't suffer."
Several ASTI delegates said the union was not just pursuing a pay claim but was also working to safeguard the teaching profession.
In her address, the ASTI president, Ms Bernadine O'Sullivan, said: "During our period of greatest change [in the classroom] teachers received paltry increases." Teachers' pay must be in line with other professions. Why should teachers be fobbed off with this newfangled benchmarking? she asked.
The ASTI general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, said other teaching unions were now moving to adopt the ASTI agenda. "At least their agenda is moving towards ours even if their strategy is different," he said.
In a possible setback for the Government's pay policy, the Teachers' Union of Ireland congress asked its executive to seek a higher "early settlers" payment. The PPF gave teachers a 3 per cent rise as compensation for settling early in the last pay round.