The head teacher of Castle Rushen High School has called the ongoing conflict between teachers and the government a ’very significant moment’ for the profession.

Keith Winstanley was speaking as the representative of the Association of School and College Leaders at a meeting tonight at Braddan church.

The meeting saw members from the National Association of Head Teachers, the NASUWT and ASCL deliver a message of unity to the government over pay and conditions in the week teachers will begin industrial action short of striking.

Mr Winstanley told the over 400 teachers gathered: ’Just looking around the audience it looks like a very significant moment for our profession on the island...

’Our view as ASCL is exactly the same as the NAHT, but just so you’re clear on that, a fair and universal application of a 3.5% pay award for the academic year 2018/19 and we’d like that backdated.

’And we want a recognition going forward that we have had an erosion in our salary over the past decade. As you can see, there is an awful lot of synergy, unusually so amongst three teaching unions.’

Carole Walsh, the island’s NAHT representative, opened the meeting by praising the unity between the unions and stating that pay and conditions in the island for teachers has become ’worse than a lot of England’.

She again called on Chief Minister Howard Quayle to step in and help resolve the dispute and said the Manx Industrial Relations Service had ’not been very effective’ in helping the two sides reach a resolution.

Mr Quayle has repeatedly refused to get involved in the dispute and told Isle of Man Newspapers: ’I don’t think this is time for me to get involved.

’As Chief Minister I’m not an expert in sorting out industrial relations disputes. We have experts to deal with this.’

Members of a fourth union, the NEU, have rejected a pay offer that had been agreed in principle with the union’s leadership.

We will have more coverage of the unions’ meeting in the Manx Independent, in shops Thursday, the same day teachers and school leaders are due to begin industrial action.