The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) union has confirmed that it has rejected the latest teacher pay offer.
The union said today that its salaries and conditions-of-service committee had unanimously voted against the offer late yesterday.
The SSTA said teachers had been “deliberately misled” by the Scottish government and local authorities’ body Cosla before the “pathetic” new pay offer was tabled.
It is now planning strike action on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 December.
The union issued a statement on the day that members of the EIS teaching union took part in the first national strike action over teacher pay since the 1980s, with members of primary school leaders’ body AHDS also on strike today.
The SSTA condemned the new salary proposals, which, for most teachers, amounted to the same 5 per cent they had previously been offered three months ago; teaching unions have been campaigning for 10 per cent.
Teachers ‘deliberately misled’ over pay offer
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the SSTA, said the government and Cosla had made teachers believe a “serious increased pay offer” would be put on the table.
“The Scottish government and Cosla have deliberately misled the teachers’ unions into believing a serious increased pay offer would be made,” he said.
“After three months, what we received was a pathetic and insulting pay offer that penalised senior teachers to the benefit of a very small number of new entrants.
“This treatment only shows contempt for teachers. How they think this is a sensible offer is beyond belief.”
He added: “A misleading statement by Scottish government that falsely twists statistics to try and give the impression that this is a serious and substantial pay offer only compounds the feeling of contempt.
“For the vast majority of teachers, there is no new offer. SSTA members have no option but to continue with planned strike action on December 7 and 8.”
Paul Cochrane, SSTA salaries and conditions-of-service committee convener, said: “It is evident that Cosla and the Scottish government have refused to listen to the view of the teachers’ side that any offer should be undifferentiated and reflective of the current economic situation faced by a workforce that stood tall during the critical period of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Cosla’s behaviour has illustrated that, by dint of delay and late postponement of timetabled meetings, it has never been serious about settling with teachers. The tripartite consensus has been deliberately sabotaged and used as a stick to frustrate and punish teachers.”
However, Cosla resource spokesperson Katie Hagmann said the latest offer was “fair and affordable” and “recognised the cost-of-living crisis as the priority by focusing on higher increases for staff on lower pay points”.
She added: “The offer we have made is in line with the offers made to all other parts of the public sector, including the wider local government workforce.”
“The response of our trade union partners in disappointing given the financial challenges facing everybody, but we remain open to having open and honest conversations about how we can reach a viable and realistic settlement that protects the best interests of teacher, children and young people and our wider communities.”
