The Scottish government has until Friday to make an improved offer or the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) will reinstate strike action.
Speaking to Tes Scotland this afternoon, SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said that the union’s executive is meeting on Friday and if there is no improved pay offer, then industrial action will be back on the cards, and two strike days will be announced for March.
Mr Searson said the strike days would cause “maximum disruption” because they would be on top of the two days of national strike action being taken by the EIS and NASUWT Scotland teaching unions this week, tomorrow (28 February) and the day after.
He said: “Our intention now is to cause maximum disruption by having two days of strike action that do not coincide with when everyone else is on strike.
“Tomorrow and Wednesday there would have been no real benefit in SSTA members joining the strikes because schools will be closed anyway by the EIS.
“However, if we strike in two or three weeks’ time, that’s disruption that hasn’t cost our members any more money than they would have lost this week.
“We don’t want to do it, but that’s why the government needs to come up with a new offer.”
In a surprise development on Friday, the SSTA announced its decision to “defer” industrial action after a “consultative survey” of members.
It said it would no longer be participating in the two days of national strikes this week after its members “returned a very marginal vote” in favour of accepting the 14 February pay deal.
The decision - which followed the announcement that primary leaders were calling off their strike action on the back of the offer - led to criticism on social media, with some teachers saying they planned to leave the SSTA as a result.
The EIS said over the weekend it had over 300 new applications for membership.
An EIS spokesperson said: “We can’t say exactly where these new members have come from - we don’t recruit members who are in other unions - but having protection to allow them to take part in strike action is likely an important factor for teachers currently seeking to sign up for membership.”
Mr Searson, meanwhile, confirmed the SSTA had lost members, but he said “whichever way we jumped, we were going to make some people unhappy”.
He said that he did not regret the decision to survey members on the 14 February deal, which was rejected outright by the EIS and consisted of a 6 per cent rise this year and 5.5 per cent next year.
He added: “We always said if there was an improved offer we would come back and gauge members’ views on it. We hoped it would be nice and clear with the members saying either ‘carry on’ or ‘I’m willing to accept’ but what we got was a halfway house between the two.
“But the survey was the right thing to do and I stand by that and I also think the decision we made was the right thing to do at this particular point.”
Mr Searson added that his message to SSTA members was: “Stick with us - our strategy is right.
”If we get another offer we will consult members and if we don’t get another offer by Friday we will reinstate the industrial action and issue further strike dates by Friday afternoon.”
Unions have to give a detailed notice about industrial action to the employer at least 14 days before it begins, so the soonest the SSTA will be able to take further action is mid-March.
Also today, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: “EIS members remain absolutely resolute in their determination to secure a fair pay settlement from the Scottish government and [local authorities body] Cosla. This two-day national strike action is a further clear signal that Scotland’s teachers are not prepared to accept the deep real-terms pay cut that is being offered to them.
“Support for the ongoing programme of strike action remains very strong, with a growing number of teachers out on picket lines with each day of action. Indeed, the EIS processed a significant number of new membership applications in the run up to today’s action, as more teachers expressed their desire to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their colleagues on EIS picket lines this week.”
She added: “Teachers, pupils and parents have been badly let down by both the Scottish Government and Cosla throughout this dispute. For more than a year, they have slow-played negotiations on a fair pay settlement for teachers, preferring instead to hide behind undemocratic anti-trade union laws while also attempting to bypass the appropriate collective bargaining procedures.
“It is not through leaks to the press and soundbites on the airwaves that this dispute will be settled - it is only by appropriate negotiations, through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), that an agreement can be struck.”
