Scotland’s largest teaching union has today written to council leaders expressing its “growing anger” and “frustration” at their failure to respond to the 10 per cent teacher pay claim.
In the letter - sent ahead of a meeting of council leaders tomorrow - EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan is urging local authorities body Cosla to stop procrastinating and start negotiating.
The EIS, which represents 80 per cent of Scottish teachers, launched its campaign for a 10 per cent pay rise in January. But the best offer on the table from Scottish councils to date has been 3 per cent, with councils arguing that if teachers are to get a more substantial rise then so too should other council workers.
However, in his letter Mr Flanagan accused councils of “abusing” teacher pay and using it as “a political pawn” in a growing dispute between authorities and the Scottish government over the local government financial settlement.
He warned Cosla that the established collective bargaining arrangements for teachers must be respected, saying stable industrial relations depended on it.
Mr Flanagan said: “I am writing to you to express the frustration of Scottish teachers at Cosla’s continuing procrastination in terms of this year’s pay negotiations and, also, to express our growing anger at Cosla’s attempt to use the plight of teachers as a political pawn in its own dispute with Scottish government regarding the local government financial settlement.”
He added: “The EIS is very clear that we have distinct bargaining machinery in the tripartite arrangement of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT). Cosla needs to respect the integrity of the SNCT negotiating machinery and support a pay settlement for teachers that will address the problems of recruitment and retention, highlighted in our submission. The EIS now calls on Cosla, as the employers’ group, to recognise the legitimacy of the teachers’ pay claim and the challenges which Scottish education continues to face.”
The union expected teacher pay to be discussed at the Cosla leaders’ meeting in June, but Mr Flanagan said he was “dismayed” to find that teacher pay was not even on the agenda.
Tomorrow the Cosla leaders group is due to meet again and the EIS is urging members to empower their negotiators to return with proposals.
Mr Flanagan, however, has made it clear in the past that to get close to 10 per cent he believes teachers will have to at least demonstrate that they are prepared to strike by voting for action in a national ballot.
In England teachers are set for a pay rise of 3.5 per cent from September.
A Cosla spokesman said: “Everyone associated with the SNCT negotiating process is working extremely hard to find a solution to a very difficult pay round. We have already confirmed with both Scottish government and the teachers unions that we will meet them in early September to resume talks, and hopefully before long we can find a mutually agreeable solution.”
