The demand by the main secondary teachers' union, the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) for a 30 per cent pay increase is set to be rejected by the public service arbitrator later today.
Rejection by the arbitrator is likely to trigger a programme of industrial action. An executive meeting on Saturday is set to ballot members on a programme of industrial action which could include disruption of next year's Leaving and Junior Cert exams.
The ASTI is the only teacher union to reject the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF); the other two unions are seeking additional monies through the bench-marking process. This could reward teachers for changes in productivity and working conditions, but is not due to report until 2003.
