The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) will shortly submit a new pay claim for 34 per cent, in addition to the 17 per cent already agreed under the national pay deal.
The claim to be submitted to the Government's benchmarking pay review body is larger than the 30 per cent sought by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI).
The TUI, the second-largest post-primary union, also wants the teachers' pay scale altered.
At present it takes about 22 years for most teachers to reach the top of the scale, but the TUI wants this reduced to 15 years.
The submission has to be presented to the body by March 20th, and the TUI is currently circulating its proposals to members. They are entitled to seek changes.
The TUI leadership is adhering to the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF), and so far its members have received a rise of 5.5 per cent and will soon get another 2 per cent under its terms.
An early-settlers' payment of 3 per cent was paid last October.
Despite receiving these pay increases, the union believes teachers have fallen significantly behind comparable graduate groups. Its submission will argue that teachers have fallen behind despite giving generous productivity over the past decade.
Most of the pay increase is covered by past productivity. The union's submission will argue that any future productivity will have to be matched by a further pay rise on top of the 34 per cent.
For example, the TUI is prepared to consider continuous assessment at Junior Certificate level, but wants its members to be paid for introducing it.
It is less enthusiastic about the new inspection system, Whole School Evaluation (WSE), and several annual conferences have come out against it.
It claims that many TUI teachers who work in the vocational sector are already inspected and if they agree to WSE they will effectively have to face two forms of inspection.
The Labour Court is expected to deliver its recommendation on the five-month old ASTI dispute towards the end of the week. Several options are being looked at, but the outline of a recommendation is some way off.
The ASTI has begun withdrawing from exam work, but its next strike will not take place until the Labour Court has made its recommendation.
Most sources agree that the Labour Court represents the final chance in this school year to solve the dispute.
The oral/practical exams begin on March 26th, when the effects of the ASTI action will become clear.
The TUI is currently willing to get involved in the orals/practicals, but this may change if the Department of Education brings in non-teachers to assist.
The TUI yesterday met Department of Education officials to work out the arrangements for this year's exams. The Department is trying to cope without the ASTI but is facing serious manpower difficulties.