TEACHERS planning a strike which will shut schools down will still receive some pay on the day they walk out.
The 7,000-strong INTO is taking a half day strike on the morning of January 18.
All main teaching unions are angry, having rejected a pay offer that would see staff receive no across the board pay rise for 2015/16, and a 1 per cent cost of living uplift for 2016/17.
The unions are due to meet employers again on January 12, however, education minister Peter Weir has already said there is no more money. Mr Weir urged teachers to go back to the negotiating table and "accept that the pay offer they walked away from is not in a position to be improved upon".
Already one union - the NASUWT - has had the first in a planned series of rolling strikes, which focussed only on Belfast and Newtownabbey.
More schools are expected to be affected by the INTO action. While most of the INTO's members work in Catholic maintained primary schools, it will affect every sector, and all age groups.
Rather than tell children to stay at home in the morning and return in the afternoon, it is likely schools will simply shut for the day.
The union opted to only take a half day, which means they will receive a half day's pay. Principals have already been informed by the Education Authority that they should only pay their staff for the hours they work on the day of the strike.
It is understood also that the INTO was keen to avoid a whole day stoppage as this would represent a break in service and have longer term financial consequences for teachers.
In addition, it is thought it opted for a morning walk-out because transport is already in place for the afternoon, while staff returning at lunch time means children can still receive free meals.
Members of the NASUWT, due to their own industrial action, will not cover for absent INTO colleagues.
Teachers will be available for work from 12:30pm.
Ahead of the strike, the INTO and the smaller Association of Teachers and Lecturers, also plan to stage action short of strike. Both have backed a plan of non-co-operation with school inspections by the Education and Training Inspectorate. This will begin on January 6.
The Ulster Teachers' Union has also said its members will no longer be cooperating with school inspections from January 12.
