Two more days of strike action over teacher pay will start tomorrow.
Members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) and NASUWT Scotland are to go ahead with strikes on Wednesday and Thursday.
Most secondary schools will be closed with some partially open to senior pupils, while a number of primary schools will also be affected.
The action follows a national strike by members of the EIS union and primary school leaders’ body the AHDS on 24 November.
The Scottish government submitted a pay offer to teachers earlier in November, which was summarily dismissed by the unions. While there was a 6.85 per cent offer for probationers, most were still offered the same 5 per cent that had previously been put on the table; the EIS, which has announced 16 more days of strike action in January and February, is campaigning for 10 per cent.
SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said today: “The employers [through local authorities body Cosla] and the Scottish government has failed to contact the SSTA since 22 November to avert the strikes taking place this week. The proposed SSTA strikes are having an impact by causing confusion in many local authorities in trying to keep schools open.
“SSTA members are taking part in the strike this week to send a hard message to the employer and Scottish government that teachers demand to be respected and receive a professional salary that will act to retain teachers in Scottish schools.”
Mr Searson added: “The latest offer was quickly rejected by the teacher unions and was deliberately divisive and inadequate. This apparent show of contempt to teachers by this offer has hardened the resolve of members and forced the SSTA to take the strongest form of action.
“For many SSTA members, this will be the first strike they will have taken part in, and this action will have caused a great deal of anxiety not only for themselves but for the pupils they teach. The SSTA can only apologise to the pupils and their parents who are stuck in the middle of a dispute that should have been resolved months ago. Teachers do not want to be taking strike action as they would rather be in school teaching.”
The NASUWT union is calling for a fully funded 12 per cent pay award for 2022-23.
Following the strike action on Wednesday and Thursday, members will begin a programme of ongoing action short of strike action from Friday 9 December. This means NASUWT members will refuse to cover for absent colleagues and attend no more than one meeting per week outside pupil sessions, but will continue to teach, plan lessons and assess pupils’ work.
NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach said: “Talk is cheap but actions matter and [teachers] are tired of being taken for granted and expected to work harder and harder for less and less money.”
Dr Roach added: “The cost-of-living crisis has brought this situation to a head and unless ministers and employers act to offer teachers a fair and decent pay award we cannot rule out further strike action in the months to come.”
NASUWT Scotland national official Mike Corbett said: “Our members would rather be in school working with their pupils, but have had no option but to take this action in order to stand up for their right to a salary which reflects the skilled and difficult work they do and which enables them to weather the cost-of-living crisis.”
He added: “The current pay offer is simply insufficient. Teachers are not willing to accept yet another real-terms pay cut and are ready to fight for a better deal.”
