Isle of Man teachers to begin industrial action in pay dispute

Teachers will begin action short of strike from 27 April

More than 400 teachers on the Isle of Man are to begin industrial action on Wednesday in a dispute over pay, workload and conditions.

A National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) ballot on taking action short of a strike gained 94% support.

It follows the rejection of a 2% pay rise offer for the 2021-22 year.

The NASUWT said more needed to be done to address the "huge gap" between the offer and real-terms pay erosion.

The Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) has been asked for a comment.

From Wednesday, and until further notice teachers will not attend meetings or respond to emails outside school hours and they will not cover lessons for absent colleagues or activities during lunchtimes or after school.

Strike action

A revised deal was offered by the DESC in April, which included the appointment of cover supervisors to assist when there are absent teachers from September 2022, but did not include a rise in the pay offer.

NASUWT National Executive Member Damien McNulty said, the cover supervisors plan was "broadly welcome" but the details of the extent of the cover were yet to be revealed.

He said the pay erosion over the past decade was now "layered on top of a cost of living crisis and an energy crisis, which no-one could have foreseen".

He said if an agreement was not reached the union had a "very clear mandate" for escalating the action to a walk out after strike action was backed by 84% of members.

Mr McNulty also called on the government to take action to resolve the situation by releasing more funds.

"DESC can only work within the confines of the resources it's provided with by Treasury and fundamentally by the political will of the politicians on the island. They have the keys to unlock this dispute," he said.