Teacher strike action in Scotland will go ahead as planned next week, the EIS teaching union has said.
A meeting of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) Extended Joint Chairs was held at 4.30pm today, but the union said that “disappointingly, no new offer was brought to the table by Scottish government and [local authorities’ body] Cosla”.
The next cycle of scheduled strike action by EIS members will proceed from Monday of next week, with members from two of Scotland’s 32 local authorities walking out over 16 consecutive work days. The first day of action will be at Glasgow and East Lothian schools.
The EIS national executive committee will meet tomorrow and will consider next steps in its #PayAttention campaign for a 10 per cent pay offer for all teachers. The current offer amounts to 5 per cent for the majority of teachers and 6.85 per cent at most (for probationer teachers).
EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: “Despite their warm words over the past week, the Scottish government and Cosla have again failed to come to the table with a new pay offer to Scotland’s teachers. Our members are not prepared to accept the repeatedly reheated sub-inflationary offer that has now been sitting around for six months, and that is neither fair nor affordable for teachers.
“In the absence of an improved offer, our members will continue with strike action from Monday of next week, in their struggle for fair pay.”
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), said: “This meeting was another wasted opportunity to bring the dispute to an end and prevent further strike action. The approach to negotiation with the trade unions is causing more disruption to pupils’ learning and giving unnecessary worry to parents.”
He added: “It is evident that Cosla and the Scottish government are refusing to listen to the view of the teachers’ side [of the SNCT] and are happy for teacher strikes that began in November and December to extend into January and to allow further strikes to take place in the coming months”.
SSTA president Catherine Nicol said: “The SSTA are insisting that only a suitable pay offer that will encourage teachers to remain in the profession will be acceptable. This would attract the highest quality graduates and ensure we sustain the high-quality education system we have in Scotland - a system that is respected across Europe.
“However, the current lack of negotiations shows a level of disrespect to the profession.”
