The Scottish education secretary has warned that strike action is “in nobody’s interest” following the announcement last week by Scotland’s largest teaching union that it will be seeking a 10 per cent pay rise for all teachers.

When asked today for his response to the demand made by the EIS teaching union, which launched its 2018 pay campaign on Friday, John Swinney acknowledged there had been a period of public sector pay restraint but said that had helped to protect jobs and “teachers have been an essential part of that”.

He added that, because the finance secretary Derek Mackay had lifted the 1 per cent public sector pay cap in December, there was “more flexibility to respond to these issues”.

However, the EIS has made it clear it wants a “fair pay settlement” and that it is willing to take industrial action to get it.

Teacher strikes possible

The Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) also revealed last week that, in a survey of 1,359 members, nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) were prepared to strike this year if faced with a pay increase below the rate of inflation.

When asked if strike action was now inevitable, given last year’s considerably less ambitious staggered 2 per cent rise for teachers had taken over six months to agree, Mr Swinney said: “Strike action is in nobody’s interest and it’s not in the interest of pupils in Scotland, so the important thing is to negotiate these issues properly through the SNCT [Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers].”

According to the EIS, Scottish teachers have suffered a real-terms cut of almost 25 per cent in their take-home pay over the past decade.

Launching the 2018 Pay Campaign - entitled “Value Education - Value Teachers” - EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “The Scottish government has repeatedly said that education is its number one priority - and local authority representatives have also spoken of the importance of teachers in the delivery of high-quality education.

“Our campaign will reflect this, in urging that the teachers who are central to the provision of education be properly valued and fairly paid for the vital work that they do. A good first step towards restoring teachers’ pay to an acceptable level would be the delivery of a 10 per cent pay increase for all teachers in 2018.”

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