A new pay offer will be put to teachers “within the next few days”, the Scottish government has confirmed.
However, Scotland’s biggest teaching union, the EIS, has warned that “the figures have to be right” and it has to be “a fair settlement”.
On Friday Tes Scotland revealed that a new teacher pay offer was expected this week, with the goal that a two-year deal could be reached.
In a statement today, education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “We have been working very closely with [local authorities’ body] Cosla, as the employers, and we hope that a new fair and affordable offer can be made to teachers within the next few days.
“If we can get this offer on the table, I hope trades union colleagues will take it back to their members so this dispute can be resolved without further disruption to children and young people’s education.
“I would repeat my call to the unions to suspend industrial action while discussions are continuing.”
Tes Scotland understands that a meeting of Scottish council leaders has now been called for 4pm tomorrow (14 February). As the employers, local authorities have to approve any new offer - but as yet there is no detail regarding how much funding has been made available and what is being recommended as the revised offer.
Unions in Scotland have been campaigning for a 10 per cent pay offer and have been striking since the end of November. The best offer to date from councils and the government was worth 5 per cent for most teachers but 6.85 per cent for probationers.
Will the pay offer bring an end to teacher strikes?
This offer was little changed from an offer made last August.
The latest wave of teacher strike action in Scotland came to an end on Tuesday of last week (7 February), with more strikes due to begin on Wednesday of next week (22 February).
This next planned action will be targeted at “key decision makers” and will involve teacher walkouts in five areas, including the constituencies of first minister Nicola Sturgeon and Ms Somerville.
More national strikes are also planned for 28 February and 1 March, with 20 further days of rolling strikes across all local authority areas from 13 March to 21 April.
On Friday, responding to the prospect of a new offer, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley told Tes Scotland: “We have to be optimistic about any sign that additional money is finally going to be available but the figures have to be right. It will all come down to the detail because what a two-year deal cannot be is just a different way of short-changing Scottish teachers.
“It has to be a fair settlement and one that our members could credibly consider, regardless of whether it’s over one year or two years, 16 months or 28 months.
“Whatever way it is sliced and diced, it has to be an offer that is credible.”
Last week the NEU suspended strike action in Wales scheduled for tomorrow (14 February) to allow time to collect members’ views on an improved offer from the Welsh government.
The offer consists of a 1.5 per cent consolidated rise - on top of the 5 per cent already on the table - and a 1.5 per cent one-off payment
The Welsh government is also promising to take action on teacher workload and to reopen negotiations on pay for 2023-24. The Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB) had recommended a rise of 3.5 per cent for Welsh teachers next year.
The offer to Welsh teachers was made after just one day of strike action on 1 February.
