Unite the Union today confirmed that its Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) members could take strike action over pay, “directly hitting the student appeals process”.
On an 85 percent turnout, 95 per cent rejected the pay offer, with 84 per cent indicating that they would be prepared to strike.
Unite says that the offer is worth a maximum of 4 per cent for some staff but only 1.7 per cent for a “significant number of long-serving SQA staff”, at a time when inflation is reaching its highest point for many years.
Unite confirmed that it will start an industrial action ballot of its SQA members “in the coming weeks”. It represents hundreds of SQA workers “across all levels of staff and functions”.
The union has also highlighted “serious ongoing concerns” about the proposed replacement of the SQA, including a “lack of assurances over job roles and locations, conditions and pay in any new organisation”.
SQA staff to be balloted on strike over pay
Unite industrial officer Alison MacLean said: “Hundreds of our SQA members are increasingly concerned about their futures due to the replacement of the SQA.
“They are being expected to just get on with it, and now, to add insult to injury, some of our members are also being made an ‘offer’ as low as 1.7 per cent while inflation soars.
“Unite will defend our members’ jobs, pay and conditions, and we will now ballot on strike action which could directly hit the student appeals process.”
In March this year, a report by Professor Ken Muir put forward several proposals for reform in Scotland’s education and qualifications system. These included the replacement of the SQA - which has around 1,000 staff - with a new body. Three new national education organisations are to be created: a qualifications body, a national agency for Scottish education, and an independent inspection body.
The Scottish government wants an “operating model” for the three new bodies in place by winter of this year, becoming “fully operational” in 2024.
Unite says that “it will be impossible for the new operating model to be in place later this year without the legitimate concerns of its members being addressed”.
An SQA spokesperson said: “Thousands of learners are currently waiting for their [exams and qualifications] results. They can be confident that delivery of their results on 9 August remains firmly on track.
“Like all public bodies, SQA is subject to the Scottish government’s public sector pay policy, and the 2022-23 pay offer complies with those requirements. We will continue to discuss the pay offer with both of our recognised trade unions.”
The SQA has indicated that “once pay progression is applied, [the offer] represents an overall average increase of 4 per cent across the organisation, with increases ranging from 1.7 per cent to 6.4 per cent, depending on grade and position within the pay band”.
