A revised pay offer to teachers should be accepted, the salaries committee of Scotland’s biggest teaching union has said.
The EIS teaching union committee has agreed that the current offer, which applies from April 2021, should be accepted so that the union can instead focus on campaigning for a 10 per cent rise for 2022-23.
The salaries committee is concerned that rejection of the offer would see the proposed pay increase simply “subsumed” into the 10 per cent campaign. It also wants money in members’ bank accounts as soon as possible, as the upcoming council elections in May will require a break in pay negotiations.
The committee held a special meeting on yesterday (Thursday 3 March) to consider a revised “best and final” pay offer from local authorities’ body Cosla, which is summarised as:
- A 1.22 per cent increase at all Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) pay points with effect from 1 April 2021.
- A further 1 per cent increase at all SNCT pay points effective from 1 January 2022.
- A one-off non-recurring payment of £100 to each SNCT member of staff (pro-rata for part time) for all SNCT members in post on 31 March 2022 and based on working hours at that time.
This fourth offer from Cosla - which includes an £800 cap to the percentage increase for those earning £80,000 and above - is described by the EIS committee as “a very modest improvement on the previous one, equating to a 2.23 per cent uplift on the current pay scales along with a one-off payment of £100”.
However, in a message sent to EIS members this afternoon, the union says it has been told by Cosla that what is currently proposed is the “best and final offer”. The salaries committee describes it as “the best offer achievable through negotiation”.
The committee also says that “any further improvement would now only be achievable following significant and sustained industrial action by members (following a successful statutory ballot) between now and the summer, rather than through further negotiation”.
With local government elections taking place in May, it advises that “failure to agree a pay deal this month will see any further negotiations on the current pay claim pushed back to beyond the summer”, adding: “By that point, there would have been no increase in members’ pay for almost 20 months.”
The message to members says that the EIS is “committed to a major campaign” for a 10 per cent pay rise for 2022-23.
It adds: “The current pay offer was due to be paid in April last year and salaries committee believes there is a strong imperative to secure a settlement and money into members’ bank accounts as soon as possible. The committee would rather build upon any increase achieved this year, rather than risk having the current claim subsumed into our 10 per cent pay claim for the coming year, which would be a strong possibility.”
The committee unanimously agreed that members should be consulted on the revised offer and, by a majority of 15 to 1, agreed to recommend that members accept the current offer for the April 2021 pay round and switch the focus to the 2022-23 pay claim for 10 per cent.
The alternative to members accepting the offer would be a ballot for industrial action.
The decisions of yesterday’s salaries committee will need to be approved by the EIS council on Friday 11 March, with members consulted after that.
Last week the NASUWT teaching union said that the revised pay offer for teachers in Scotland still represented a real-term pay cut.
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: “This offer, while a marginal improvement, is not a significant step forward on its predecessors and is therefore unlikely to be welcomed by members.
“Teachers’ patience is wearing extremely thin. Our members expect and deserve a decent pay settlement.”
Mike Corbett, NASUWT national official for Scotland, said last Friday that teachers ”want a pay offer that demonstrates the value of the challenging work they do and the risks they have taken to their own safety in continuing to maintain education provision for children and young people throughout this pandemic”.
He added: ”The latest offer fails to meet these benchmarks.”
