A ballot on strike action could be held if the policy to reduce teachers’ weekly class-contact time by 90 minutes is not put into practice by August 2023.
Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville had previously indicated that an August 2022 target might be achievable, but August 2024 currently appears to be the most likely date for full implementation.
However, that is not soon enough for the EIS teaching union, which later this week will hold its first full in-person annual general meeting (AGM) since before Covid.
At the EIS AGM in Dundee, which runs from Thursday to Saturday, support will be sought for a motion urging the union’s council to “campaign vigorously” for the implementation of the reduction in teachers’ contact hours promised by the Scottish government.
The motion states that it wants a commitment to be reached by December 2022 at the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (or SNCT, the tripartite body made up of unions and local and national government) to reducing contact hours by August 2023.
If that fails to happen, the motion seeks an EIS members’ ballot in January 2023, “on industrial action, up to and including strike action, in pursuit of the reduction”.
Assurances may also be sought that the additional 90 minutes of weekly non-contact time should be “solely for the purpose of additional marking and preparation”.
That is in contrast to the views of some school leaders and education directors who have spoken about the policy and indicated that, at least in part, it should be used for collaborative work between teachers - within schools and across different schools - and also for professional development.
The EIS AGM comes after the union launched its Pay Attention campaign, calling for a 10 per cent pay rise for teachers in 2022-23, after a March vote in favour of accepting a lower offer for 2021-22. A rally is expected to take place outside the AGM venue - the Caird Hall - on Saturday afternoon as part of the pay campaign.
Keynote speeches at the AGM will be given by outgoing EIS president Heather Hughes and general secretary Larry Flanagan, who will step down from his post in the summer after 10 years. Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville will also address EIS delegates.
Mr Flanagan said: “As you would expect, the long-term impact of the Covid pandemic and the importance of supporting education recovery for young people across Scotland will continue to be key themes running throughout this AGM.”
He added: “With inflation currently soaring, Scotland’s teachers deserve a fair pay rise - and the EIS AGM will help to ensure that [local authorities’ body] Cosla and the Scottish government pay attention to the need to pay Scotland’s teachers fairly.”
The EIS AGM will also hear calls for three separate surveys, on:
There are 52 motions in total scheduled at the EIS AGM, with other areas of debate including: schools’ recovery from Covid; teacher workload; flexible working; class sizes; violence and aggression in schools; the cost-of-living crisis; long Covid; education reform; standardised national assessments; inadequate approaches to mainstreaming; anti-immigration government policies; the quality of primary PE; local policies on various reproductive health issues, such as menopause, miscarriage and menstruation; maternity pay and paternity leave; and fitting solar panels to every school in Scotland.
