The executive council of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) is split on proposals which could open the way for a possible resolution of its strike action.
At a crucial meeting of the central executive council today proposals will be put to win support for new peace moves.
The general secretary of ASTI, Mr Charlie Lennon, was said to be cautiously optimistic that the peace formula could win support.
However, sentiment among the 180-member central executive council (CEC) was last night turning against the formula under which teachers would have pay docked for work-to-rule action in November refunded.
The refund would be made at the end of this month, but only if the ASTI re-entered "intensive negotiations" led by Mr Tom Pomphrett of the Labour Relations Commission. These "talks about talks" would be completed by the end of this month.
The Irish Times understands the proposals include:
A request to the ASTI to drop its threatened legal action against the Government over the docking of the pay.
A demand that ASTI recognise that "the Department does not give up the right to make deductions in respect of these [work-to-rule days] should it prove impossible to agree a formal peace process".
An acknowledgement by the Department of the anger within the union over the pay-docking issue and a guarantee of no further deduction during the peace talks.
Mr Lennon and the union's president, Mr Don McCluskey, back the compromise formula, contained in a letter from Mr Pomphrett, but another group wants the refund to be given with no strings attached.
Sources said last night the outcome of the meeting, in Dublin's Burlington Hotel, was too close to call. The CEC is expected to be guided by the 28member standing committee which met yesterday.
While it failed to reach a conclusion on the proposals, the standing committee is expected to indicate to the meeting today its view, and this will greatly influence the vote of the wider body.
The meeting is crucial because it may be the last chance to head off chaos in the exam system. If the ASTI does not rejoin talks it is likely instead to withdraw from exam work.
In a few weeks exams are due to start, and the Department of Education is currently working on alternative arrangements for staging them without the ASTI.
However, if today's meeting resolves the issue of docked pay and talks resume, the ASTI could suspend industrial action, including the ban on exam work and rolling one-day strikes due to start on January 15th.
If the union re-enters talks it is likely to give Mr Pomphrett about three weeks to work out a formula to resolve the dispute.
The CEC is generally regarded as less hard-line than many members of the standing committee, but there is no certainty it will pass the deal.
Many of its members accepted the need to enter talks but were infuriated by the decision of the Government to dock pay so close to Christmas. Some teachers lost between £300 and £400.
However, Department of Education officials have been making a determined push for a compromise, and informal contacts have been taking place.
It is understood that, if the deal is rejected today, Mr Pomphrett may still attempt to restart talks on his own.
While the mood among the union's rank-and-file remains angry there is still strong resistance among many to pulling out of exams.