At the weekend, 30,000 Scottish teachers marched in Glasgow in the fight for a 10 per cent pay rise. Today, industrial action moved closer still, as Scotland’s largest teaching union opened a ballot on the “final” pay offer from the Scottish government and local authorities.
The EIS is calling on all teachers to use their vote in the ballot to overwhelmingly reject the offer of a 3 per cent rise across the board, with further rises dependent on the teacher’s stage of career.
The unions are calling the offer “divisive” because not all teachers would benefit to the same extent, but education secretary John Swinney has described it as “generous and fair”, arguing that the majority of teachers would receive a rise of between 5 per cent and 11 per cent.
The ballot will run for three weeks, until 20 November.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said the ballot gave Scottish teachers another chance to make their voices heard.
Mr Flanagan said: “The EIS is clear that the current offer from the Scottish government and [local authorities’ body] Cosla is not good enough, as it fails to address adequately the 24 per cent real-terms cut of the past decade; is divisive in nature; and will do little to attract the new teachers that Scotland desperately needs, or to retain the experienced teachers who offer so much to Scottish education. Our members turned out in record numbers on Saturday, and we are confident that they will also turn out in huge numbers in this ballot.”
He added: “An overwhelming vote to reject the current divisive offer should bring the Scottish government and Cosla back to the negotiating table - or else they risk forcing Scotland’s teachers into a campaign of industrial action.”
On Saturday, Scottish teachers marched through the streets of Glasgow in support of the Value Teachers, Value Education campaign being run by the EIS.
The march and rally - which despite concerns was scarcely disrupted by the filming of a Hollywood blockbuster in Glasgow city centre - made plain that the first major teacher-led industrial action in Scotland since the 1980s was a prospect that seemed increasingly likely.
Mr Swinney repeated comments he made at the weekend, including saying: “Through a combination of a 3 per cent increase for all staff earning up to £80,000, restructuring the main grade scale and annual progression, the majority of teachers receive a rise of between 5 per cent and 11 per cent. There would be a flat-rate increase of £1,600 for those earning more than £80,000 from 1 April 2018.”
He added: “There has been reference to conditions of service forming part of the negotiations; this is factually incorrect. There have also been comparisons with offers to other public sector workers. Our offer to teachers is for one year, and compares favourably with the pay award for the majority of health workers of 9 per cent over three years and the recently announced 6.5 per cent increase for police officers covering 31 months.”
