Teaching unions in Scotland have formally rejected the latest pay offer, as strike action looks set to continue after last week’s historic action.
The Scottish government made an offer last week that amounted to 6.85 per cent for probationers, but which saw most teachers due to receive the same 5 per cent they had previously been offered.
In a letter today, the teacher panel of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) - the body that brings together teaching unions, councils and government to negotiate pay - said the offer was “wholly unacceptable” and that unions are “united in rejection”.
Des Morris, chairman of the SNCT teachers’ panel and the EIS teaching union’s salaries convener, said this afternoon: “In rejecting this proposal, we have highlighted the lack of improvement on the previous offer, which was itself rejected unanimously some three months ago.
“In addition to offering no tangible improvement, this proposal is also worse for many experienced teachers in promoted posts compared to the previous offer.”
Mr Morris added: “This proposal also quite absurdly, given employers’ responsibilities around fair work and SNCT conditions of service, suggests that even more demands of teachers could have been made, adding to their already intolerable workloads, had employers chosen to do so.
“Also, a red line is that the proposal offers a differentiated pay increase, which is something that teaching unions made clear from the very start would never be acceptable to Scotland’s teachers.”
Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has repeatedly said there is no more money for teachers’ pay, and that any increase would have to come from elsewhere in the education budget.
But Mr Morris told local authorities’ body Cosla and the Scottish government to come back with a better offer.
“If the Scottish government and Cosla are truly serious about reaching a pay settlement with Scotland’s teachers - and halting industrial action in our schools - then they must come back with a much more credible, fair, undifferentiated and substantially improved pay offer for all of Scotland’s teaching professionals,” he said.
“The offer that we have rejected unanimously today is neither credible nor fair, nor does it make any tangible improvement to the previously rejected offer.”
He added: “The united message from Scotland’s teaching unions and Scotland’s teachers is clear - the Scottish government and Cosla need to stop the spin and get back to the negotiating table with a fair, credible and substantially improved, undifferentiated pay offer.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “It is very disappointing that the teaching unions have rejected this fair and progressive offer, which mirrors the deal accepted by other local government workers.
“Strikes are in no one’s interest and this offer - the fourth offer that has gone to unions - would have meant a 21.8 per cent cumulative increase in teacher pay since 2018.
“It is simply unaffordable to have a 10 per cent increase that unions are asking for within the fixed budget the Scottish government is working in.”
The NASUWT Scotland teaching union plans to strike on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 December - as does the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association - with action short of a strike due on Friday 9 December.
The EIS announced last week that teachers in every local authority in Scotland will walk out, two councils at a time, for 16 straight days after taking a single day of action last week.
This will follow action on Tuesday 10 January for teachers in primary and primary special schools, as well as those in the early years, and on Wednesday 11 January for those in secondary schools and secondary special schools.
