Scotland’s teachers have formally rejected the latest pay offer from local authorities body Cosla and the Scottish government, at a negotiating meeting held today.
As things stand, Scotland is still on course for its first national, teacher-led strike since the 1980s, on Wednesday 24 April.
The meeting of the Extended Joint Chairs of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) broke up this afternoon with no agreement. However, all sides said they had agreed to continue discussions in the hope of reaching an agreement. Another meeting has been scheduled for Monday.
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Before the Extended Joint Chairs meeting today, the SNCT Teachers’ Panel met and rejected the Cosla offer, made on 25 January, by 14 votes to 4.
Last Friday, it emerged that members of the EIS - Scotland’s largest teaching union - had voted to reject the pay offer, by 57 per cent to 43 per cent, although members of other unions took a different view.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “At today’s meeting, we presented the recent EIS ballot result and indicated our intended move to a statutory ballot for strike action. This provides clear evidence of the need for the other parties to improve the offer in order to gain acceptance from teachers. We also reiterated that the EIS is continuing to seek a negotiated settlement, that we were willing to meet at any time, and that strike action would be a last resort.”
Mr Flanagan added: “Both Cosla and the Scottish government confirmed that they were keen to keep talking and that they, too, wished to see an agreement being achieved. All sides agreed to reflect on the issues raised and to meet again next Monday.”
Mr Flanagan also said: “While the EIS has commenced moves towards a statutory ballot for strike action, we are maximising the negotiating opportunity created by the rejection vote in the hope that an acceptable settlement may still be reached.”
