The Treasury Minister has accused a teaching union of ’losing all perspective’ over its continuing industrial action.

Alfred Cannan took to Twitter to vent his frustration at the NASUWT.

Members of the island’s largest teaching union have rejected the government’s pay deal, describing the proposed offer as ’derisory and unacceptable’.

Three other unions, the NAHT, NEU and ASCL, have voted in support of the offer.

Mr Cannan tweeted: ’No doubt - the IoM NASUWT has lost all perspective.

’At a time of crisis their call is "action short of strike" despite a pay offer their fellow union colleagues accepted.’

This prompted a swift rebuke from Damien McNulty, national executive member for the teaching union, who described Mr Cannan’s comments as ’absolutely outrageous and absolutely ridiculous’.

He tweeted: ’NASUWT won’t take lectures from a politician involved in a 30% erosion of teachers’ pay in the last 10 years.

’A failure to invest in teachers is a failure to invest in the future of the entire workforce.

’This pay crisis has been coming for a decade - don’t hide behind a pandemic.’

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The NASUWT said it is ready to engage with the Department of Education, Sport and Culture but until a resolution is found, its members will continue with industrial action short of strike action.

By far the largest teaching union in the island, the NASUWT has 476 members in the state schools and 47 at University College Isle of Man.

It didn’t ballot members over the pay offer but its rejection of the deal followed feedback from them from five Zoom meetings, workplace representatives and a closed Facebook group.

However, a regular ballot on whether to continue the current action opened on December 16 and runs to January 11.

Mr McNulty told the Courier it was ’inconceivable’ that members would vote to drop the industrial action given the feedback he’d received.

The government’s deal includes a one-off lump sum of £2,850 for senior leaders and £1,850 for those on the upper pay range. This will be funded by £1.5m of new money.

The deal includes a commitment to review pay talks in any year in light of local conditions, discontinue appraisals, postpone external validations and to have union involvement in the Education Bill.

Mr McNulty said it didn’t come as any surprise that other unions had voted in support of the deal as it addressed school heads’ concerns over 2018-19’s differential pay award.

He said in contrast the NASUWT’s trade dispute was about historical pay erosion, conditions of services and pensions.