Teachers in three Scottish local authority areas - Glasgow, Fife and West Dunbartonshire - have today voted to declare a formal dispute with their employers over Covid safety.
This dispute is over what the EIS teaching union describes as “failure to provide a safe working environment for staff in light of the continuing threat from the Covid-19 pandemic”.
In West Dunbartonshire, 91 per cent of teachers backed the move to a dispute, based on on a turnout of 75 per cent. In Glasgow, 93 per cent of teachers voted in favour, on a turnout of 63 per cent. In Fife, 90 per cent of teachers voted in favour, on a turnout of 53 per cent.
Coronavirus: Teachers fear for their safety
The EIS local associations in these areas will seek “an urgent response from the councils involved”.
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EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “These votes are clear evidence of the anxieties teachers feel with regard to school Covid security. The first minister [Nicola Sturgeon] today has cited rising infection levels in parts of the country and hinted that some areas may have to move back to Level 4 - all the more likely if there is a post-Christmas spike in infection levels.”
He added: “We have seen schools in Wales move to remote learning as part of the effort to drive down infection levels and yet in Scotland there isn’t a single additional mitigation put in place for schools even at Level 4. Teachers want to see schools open but not at all costs. Both the Scottish government and local authorities should be transparent in setting out the benchmarks which would trigger a move to remote or blended learning.”
