Teaching union NASUWT will be taking strike action tomorrow and Thursday, despite having ‘productive talks’ last Friday with the Department of Education, Sports and Culture.

The strikes are taking place in an ongoing dispute over teachers’ pay, workload and working practices.

The NASUWT says, following Friday’s meeting, it offered to suspend the action if the Manx government committed to considering the suggestions the union put forward on addressing members’ concerns.

The union says that it is disappointing that no commitment was forthcoming and therefore it has had no choice but to continue with this week’s action as planned.

The strike action follows the imposition of a pay award which according to the NASUWT represents a real terms pay cut of 3% for most teachers and a 30% loss in pay since 2010.

NASUWT members rejected the current pay award, the four other teachers’ unions in the island have accepted the government’s offer.

The union is calling for a multi-year fully funded pay offer that addresses the historic erosion of pay.

It says this would be part of a medium to long-term strategy for the sustainable delivery of high-quality education into the future.

The union believes that such a strategy must also address the chronic problems of excessive workload and working hours.

This, according to the NASUWT, is diverting teachers’ time and energy from focusing on meeting the needs of pupils and which are hampering recruitment and retention of teachers.

The union says it remains committed to discussions to resolve the dispute and will continue to engage at every opportunity.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, said: ‘We continue to urge the DESC to accept the strength of feeling among our members and to agree to work with us constructively and honestly to resolve our dispute and focus on building an education service that is fit for the future.’