Teachers at Kilkenny City Vocational School have voted in favour of strike action next month in protest at what they say are unacceptable conditions at the school.
At an emergency meeting of their union on Monday evening, members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) voted unanimously to cease work for one day, on April 7th.
The move, which will affect nearly 300 students and 40 teachers, follows claims by the union that the school has failed to address serious health and safety matters brought to its attention by teachers and union representatives on a number of occasions.
A spokesman for the union said there was overwhelming support for strike action and emphasised that the action was not aimed at any one person, but was being carried out to ensure the safety of the union's members.
Other education centres affiliated with the school, including Ormonde College and Coláiste Pobail Osraí, will also be affected by the action.
The perceived vulnerability of part-time teachers working at the school is another issue over which the union says it is unhappy.
The strike action is expected to be endorsed at the union's pre-conference executive meeting next Monday. The TUI's assistant general-secretary, Declan Glynn, said the union had raised the issue at a meeting of the Teachers' Conciliation Council earlier this week and had also sought the intervention of the Department of Education and Science.