The ASTI 180-member Central Executive Committee (CEC) has again defied its own leadership and its standing committee by refusing to put the Department of Education's pay offer on supervision to a ballot of its members.
Not for the first time, it may have to explain to the public precisely what it is doing.
How can teachers refuse £27 per hour for supervision when they are already doing this job for nothing? And how can they contemplate disruption to schools on this issue at a time when elsewhere people face redundancies and lay-offs? One vastly experienced official said yesterday: "There is a sense of unreality about the whole situation."
But one influential CEC members offered no apologies: "The Government has humiliated us in the pay campaign. Why should we accept a lousy supervision allowance to buy us off and end our pay campaign?" he asked.
On Saturday, the CEC was widely expected to put the offer of £27 per hour for supervision and substitution duties out to a ballot of members. The offer - worth £1,000 to secondary teachers - was less than the ASTI wanted but it was regarded as a decent one by most teaching union leaders and by school managers.
ASTI members will not now get the chance to ballot on a deal which, for the first time, gives teachers an allowance for supervision. Instead, ASTI is balloting members to withdraw completely from supervision. The CEC is recommending a total withdrawal.
If members agree, there could be chaos in schools. School managers will almost certainly be forced to again close schools. ASTI's weekend decision is a reaction to the failure of that pay campaign. One well-placed source said: "People are furious and angry about what happened last winter ... After the series of reversals we suffered, people are casting around for any chance they can to kick back at the Government."
A vivid reminder of the failure of the pay campaign came early last week. ASTI members were informed that pay would be deducted for five days of industrial action earlier this year.
When the CEC met on Saturday morning, many delegates were anxious to put the supervision issue to one side and to consider the future of the faltering pay campaign. This was rejected on procedural grounds.
But the pay campaign has also exacerbated the already serious division in ASTI. There is widespread anger and bitterness. Three Dublin branches have tabled motions of no confidence in the leadership and others may follow. But the leadership blames radicals within the CEC for the mess.
Another question being asked is how representative is the CEC of grassroots opinion. Last year, not one member of the CEC endorsed the Labour Court pay offer but 43 per cent of members backed it.
How the teaching unions line up on payment for supervision and substitution.
The offer: £27 per hour for 37 hours in the school year. Potential for more earnings up to a maximum of 49 hours per year.
TUI (Teachers' Union of Ireland): Involved in talks on the issue since April. Will ballot members on the offer without any recommendation shortly.
ASTI: Refused to get involved in talks on the issue until 30 per cent pay claim resolved. In a U-turn agreed to contacts last month. Not balloting on offer. Instead, it is recommending that members withdraw from all supervision/substitution duties.
INTO: In discussions with Department of Education today. Insists that any offer made to secondary teachers should also apply to primary teachers. Set to ballot members shortly.