Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO)

Membership: 21,000 in the Republic, almost 80 per cent female.

Style of union: Conservative with a dash of vision - courtesy of Senator Joe O'Toole.

Pay strategy: Supported the national agreement, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF), by the narrowest of margins - an embarrassing result for Joe O'Toole, incoming president of ICTU. Facing further grassroots revolt over pay after 6 per cent inflation made PPF deal look much less attractive.

Current battle to succeed O'Toole is raising the temperature on pay, with the two leading candidates, John Carr and Catherine Byrne, demanding a better deal. O'Toole confident that Government will give more from the current PPF review. Also very confident that benchmarking review in PPF - which links teacher pay to the private sector - will be brought forward from current date of June 2002.

Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI)

Membership: 10,000, mostly in vocational and community schools. Also well represented in the booming institutes of technology.

Style of union: Left-leaning union with high tolerance level for dissidents. Its general secretary, Jim Dorney, is regarded as a shrewd figure who gives the radicals their say - and still controls the agenda.

Pay strategy: Voted against the PPF but rowed in when the Irish Congress of Trade Unions backed the deal at a special conference earlier this year.

ASTI action has given a new impetus to the anti-PPF group within the TUI. Set to ballot on industrial action after Government dragged its heels about compensating members for inflation - and over benchmarking. Leadership remains confident that PPF review plus new benchmarking timetable will sort things out. Now even more confident after Dr Woods said on radio yesterday that benchmarking could be brought forward.

However, a large grouping within the union is now ready to support strike action if the Government does not deliver.