The bitter divisions within the ASTI deepened yesterday amid increasing reports that non-teachers could face a hostile reception in schools on Monday.
During an acrimonious meeting of the ASTI's 183-member executive in Limerick, the leadership was again criticised. The meeting agreed to cease all further negotiations on the issue of supervision and substitution with the Government by 89 votes to 67.
The general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, was criticised from the floor after telling members that ruling out further talks would leave the union more isolated. He warned them they would face robust media criticism for the move.
Meanwhile, there were reports that some teachers want non-teachers banned from entering staffrooms. Some ASTI sources predict an "ugly atmosphere" in some schools. While it is understood that schools must give equal access to staffrooms, some teachers said they would not be letting non-teachers in. "We will shun these people," said one ASTI hardliner in Dublin. Others said the atmosphere should remain civil, even if teachers resented the non-teachers and the €34 an hour they will receive.
Mr John Mac Gabhann, president of the TUI, said teachers were entitled to make a dignified protest, but things should be kept stable.
There was widespread anger at comments by the head of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), Ms Mary McGlynn. She told RTÉ radio she had received reports of "intimidation" in the run-up to Monday. Mr McGabhann rejected this and said the NAPD had failed to provide any evidence to support the statement.
"We repudiate this and stress that we have no evidence of it whatsoever. However, these unwise comments are likely to make the situation even more heated," he said.
Meanwhile, the ASTI yesterday formally nominated its former president, Ms Bernadine O'Sullivan, as its candidate for the NUI Seanad elections.
Ms O'Sullivan, seen by many as the main architect of the union's pay campaign last year, was endorsed by 15 of the 21 members of the standing committee. Another former ASTI president, Mr Pierce Purcell, is also running for the NUI panel but has not been formally nominated by the union.
In another development schools are to receive extra secretarial support to operate their contingency plans, following a claim by the IMPACT trade union. The Department of Education has agreed extra funding for schools and overtime payments for school secretaries.
Depending on the number of teachers they employ, schools will get between one and eight extra secretarial hours for the first two weeks they operate contingency plans. IMPACT said secretaries would be co-operating with contingency plans now that the additional burden on them had been recognised.