Secondary school teachers have voted against a series of strike days next month which could have disrupted tens of thousands of students in the run-up to their State exams.

The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland’s (ASTI) annual conference has been meeting on Thursday afternoon in private following criticism from members of its industrial relations strategy.

This is linked to the the loss of thousands of euro in increments and allowances by members due to the union’s narrow rejection of the Lansdowne Road pay agreement.

The ASTI’s decision to stay outside the agreement also means new entrants face a four-year wait to secure permanent contracts instead of two years.

A motion calling on the union to announce strike days in May to “force the issue on equal pay” for new entrants - who are on lower payscales - was rejected by a majority of delegates, according to sources.

Another proposal to hold a single strike day on May 16th to highlight the issue of pay inequality was also defeated.

However, delegates voted in favour of balloting for industrial action - including strikes - if the issues of lesser-paid teachers is not “addressed satisfactorily” by next September.

This move echoes a motion passed by its sister union, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland, at its annual conference on Wednesday.

They also voted to hold a large-scale demonstration outside Leinster House on the first day of the pay talks which are expected to get underway next month.

A separate motion directing all ASTI members to withdraw from unpaid classroom supervision duties from the first day of the new school year was also overwhelmingly carried.

This raises the prospect of potential disruption to hundreds of secondary schools in the autumn.

The votes follow a number of stormy days of debate in which a significant number of members openly criticised the union’s strategy.

This led to the union’s leadership suspending normal business and meeting in private to address the concerns.

Members discussed a number of potential motions aimed at clarifying the future direction of the union’s campaign.

A proposed motion to suspend the union’s industrial action pending the outcome of national pay talks is understood to have been rejected for debate by the union’s standing committee on Wednesday night.

In a sign of the division within the union, a procedural motion to allow debate on this proposal on Thursday morning was defeated by 149 votes to 145.