Teacher strikes in Scotland are a step closer now that union members are set to vote on them later this month.
The opening motion at the annual meeting of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), set to take on 19 and 20 May, warns that striking will be necessary if not enough is done to address “the damage caused by a number of years of pay cuts”.
The motion, from SSTA president Kevin Campbell, calls for “strike action, in the event of the [Scottish] government failing to agree a pay deal to restore the true value of teacher salaries”.
Mr Campbell says that secondary teachers in Scotland are paid less than teachers in England “who would not even qualify to be registered to teach in Scotland”, with the highest salaries on the unpromoted scale £4,000 lower than their equivalent south of the border.
He believes that a significant pay rise “would be a major step to retain and recruit a sustainable workforce for the future”, but warns that the current situation leaves pupils in danger of having their education “damaged by the inability of their schools to find subject specialists to fill vacancies”.
Call for parents to back campaign
Meanwhile, Scotland’s largest teaching union, the EIS, has today called on parents to back its “Value Education, Value Teachers” campaign for a 10 per cent pay rise for all teachers.
The union has published an information leaflet for parents on how they can support the campaign, for example by writing to councillors or MSPs.
In January, the EIS warned that Scotland’s first national teacher-led strikes since the 1980s could take place in 2018 unless pay was “substantially improved”, and has pointed to a real-terms drop in pay of 25 per cent over a decade in a period when some countries have increased teacher salaries.
In March, unions rejected a pay rise of up to 3 per cent for teachers.
Today, EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said this had created a growing crisis in teacher recruitment and retention, with Scottish teachers regrettably moving outside Scotland to teach, or deciding to leave the profession entirely, for financial reasons.
He added: “The May Day message we are sending to parents today is that Scotland’s schools need highly qualified, professional teachers to deliver the type of education that you want and expect for your children.”
In January, education secretary John Swinney said that striking was “in nobody’s interest and it’s not in the interest of pupils in Scotland”.
Today a Scottish government spokesman said: “We value teachers highly and are providing £112 million this year to fund councils to maintain teacher numbers, including the recent teacher pay award.
“Our ambitious reform programme together with the recent announcement of bursaries of £20,000 for career changers to train in priority subjects are focused to ensure teaching remains an attractive career.
“We also recognise the pressures on teachers with a range of actions to reduce teacher workload and simplify the curriculum framework to remove unnecessary bureaucracy.”
He added: “Teachers’ pay is a matter for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) and negotiations for 2018-19 are now underway. The Scottish government will play its part in those discussions. It should be noted this government was the first in the UK to commit to lift the 1 per cent public sector pay cap, and the teachers’ pay deal for 2017-18 reflects this commitment.”
