TEACHERS at a school serving a large inner-city parish are today due to take strike action.
Members of the NASUWT union at St Patrick's PS in north Belfast are striking over "the culture" in which they must work.
The action involves about half the 550-pupil school's teaching staff.
Those in other unions will work as normal but will not undertake any additional duties caused by NASUWT members' absence.
The school was created through the amalgamation of Edmund Rice boys' and Star of the Sea girls' schools in September 2013.
The NASUWT said there were "deep concerns of teachers at the school about the culture in which they are expected to work".
The union's general secretary Chris Keates said members were dedicated teachers who cared about the pupils.
"Taking strike action is the last thing they want to do but they have been left with no choice," she said.
"They feel they cannot continue to accept a working environment where the management practices are undermining their wellbeing and ability to do their best for their pupils.
"The NASUWT has attempted at every stage to work with the employer to resolve the issues, however members have been left with no option other than to take strike action."
A further five days of action are planned on November 20, 22, 27, 28 and 29.
The school also has several members of the INTO union.
"INTO members have been advised to carry on with their normal work but not to undertake any additional work arising from the industrial action being undertaken by their NASUWT colleagues," said northern secretary Gerry Murphy.
"INTO would urge the various parties to this dispute to come together as a matter of urgency and resolve their differences in the interests of all concerned."
The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) confirmed that NASUWT members had balloted to take up to six days of intermittent discontinuous strike action "in response to what they are describing as adverse management practices".
"We are disappointed by this outcome as it will undoubtedly adversely effect the whole school community, in particular the children attending the school," a spokeswoman said.
"CCMS fully appreciates the right of teachers to take industrial action. However, we do not believe that in this instance such action is either proportionate or warrented. It is our firm belief that the issues at the heart of this dispute can best be dealt with through an open and honest dialogue which seeks to provide balance to the concerns of both sides."
