It will be surprising if a deal on teacher pay is reached before Christmas, the general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) has told Tes Scotland.
Teaching unions said earlier this year they hoped there would be “less game-playing, obfuscation and stalling” from local authorities and the Scottish government when it came to teacher pay.
In 2022-23, teachers in Scotland took national strike action over pay for the first time since the mid-1980s, starting in November 2022.
That ultimately led to a pay deal in March 2023, amounting to what the EIS teaching union highlighted as a 14.6 per cent increase in salary for most teachers by January 2024.
Now, teachers are due their next pay rise by the new settlement date of 1 August.
Fear of teacher pay deal delay
However, while the teachers’ side of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers put in a claim of 6.5 per cent in January, no counter-offer has been made by councils.
This leaves just two months to get a deal over the line. Teaching unions say negotiations will need to be done and dusted by the end of June so that any rise can be included in August pay packets.
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the SSTA, said it is “fanciful” to think that an acceptable deal can be reached by the end of June, given it is likely that when local authorities’ body Cosla finally tables an offer, further negotiations will be required. Teaching unions will potentially have to put that offer to their members.
Speaking to Tes Scotland, Mr Searson said: “If a deal is reached before Christmas I will be surprised - but I’m always happy to be surprised.”
With the prospect of another delay looming, Mr Searson called for teacher pay and teacher numbers to be taken out of the hands of Scottish councils.
He said the Scottish government should negotiate teacher salaries directly with the unions to try to avoid the wrangling over funding with councils that has characterised recent teacher pay deals.
Mr Searson also called for the government to take direct control of teacher numbers - another source of conflict between the Scottish government and local authorities - and distribute teachers to councils using a formula.
“In some ways, it would be just like running a school - headteachers don’t negotiate pay and they don’t determine the number of teachers they get. That is done through a formula set by the local authority,” he said.
“In this case, the formula would be set by the Scottish government, which would also determine teacher salaries.”
Responding to Mr Searson’s comments on pay, Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said it was “pessimistic” to suggest that there would be no teacher pay rise before Christmas.
‘Still time’ to increase pay by August
There is “still time” to reach a deal that could make it into teacher pay packets by August, she said - but while the EIS is “hopeful” and “still committed to continuing negotiations”, it is also “considering the action it might need to take” in the event of no agreement being reached by the end of June.
She said that “the whole gamut of possibilities”, from strike action to industrial action short of striking, was being considered.
Ms Bradley said: “There has been discussion of these things but we haven’t gone as far as strategising because we remain committed to the negotiations and we are taking in good faith the assurances we have had from the Scottish government and Cosla that they wish to avoid another round of industrial action by teachers, and that they are committed to making a fair offer and making that offer in time for teachers to receive it by the August settlement date.”
In recent months, relations between the Scottish government and councils have been strained, largely because of the council tax freeze and the government’s desire to maintain teacher numbers, which will be necessary if it is to deliver its pledge to reduce teachers’ class contact time.
Now, with John Swinney poised to become first minister - and a protracted leadership race looking to have been avoided - it remains to be seen whether the unions can look forward to more productive negotiations on teacher pay and conditions.
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