“If they win in Glasgow then they will come for your jobs, too.”
That was the message from Glasgow teachers gathered for the EIS teaching union’s annual general meeting in Dundee today, where delegates backed an emergency motion condemning the council’s plans to cut 450 teaching posts over the next three years.
It also promised that “any moves to replicate these cuts in the other 31 local authorities will be met with a robust response”, up to and including industrial action.
Job cuts anger at local and national government
However, it was not just Glasgow City Council that came under fire; the Scottish government was also called out over its failure to intervene over the job losses.
Susan Quinn - EIS education committee convener and a Glasgow primary headteacher - said: “We call out the cabinet secretary [for education, Jenny Gilruth], we call out the first minister, because they are silent in this and they are going to allow it to happen.”
Ms Quinn went on to warn that if the cuts in Glasgow are allowed to go ahead, other councils will follow suit - a warning echoed by a number of other delegates.
She said: “If they win in Glasgow then they will come for your jobs, too.”
Nicola Fisher, EIS equality committee convener, said as a result of the cuts the Glasgow primary school she works in is losing two full-time members of staff.
She said the upshot would be “enrichment” activities disappearing, from pupil support and school shows to the pupil council, trips and planning for transition between different stages of education.
Ms Fisher said it was “a vile calumny” to suggest that education had been protected from budget cuts and it was somehow “education’s turn”.
Myriad education services affected by cuts
Bilingual services had been “decimated”; support for learning teachers and attendance officers had been cut; free buses for trips were no longer available; the school library service had gone; school resource budgets had been “slashed”; and cuts to support at the centre meant there were no longer advisers available for key subjects like maths and literacy.
EIS vice president Allan Crosbie warned the cuts in Glasgow could have dire consequences for new teachers. Already, many of these teachers had been “trapped in precarity for several years” and were feeling “devalued” and “disposable”.
Other delegates spoke about the Pupil Equity Fund being used to plug the gaps created by the cuts and of children who needed support the most - those “desperate for a positive adult in their life” - being hit the hardest.
Ms Fisher said: “This dispute, our fight, isn’t just for Glasgow - because it’s coming soon to a local authority near you. If they get away with it they will try to do it in other places.”
She added: “We here today put [local authorities’ body] Cosla and the Scottish government on notice: you come for the jobs of teachers and you will have an almighty fight on your hands - so buckle up.”
EIS members in Glasgow are currently being balloted to gauge their willingness to take industrial action over the teacher cuts, including strike action. The ballot closes on Monday.
A Scottish government spokesperson said it was ”committed to protecting teacher numbers and the education secretary wrote to [councils body] Cosla last week to clarify this position” and that “This letter was sent to all local authorities, including Glasgow.”
The spokesperson added: “We are offering local authorities £145.5 million for that purpose - providing further protection for children’s education. We hope that all councils, who are responsible for the employment of teachers, will accept these grants so they can continue to benefit from this significant funding.”
For the latest Scottish education news, analysis and features delivered directly to your inbox, sign up to Tes magazine’s The Week in Scotland newsletter
