Give us ALL 10% rise or face strike, say teachers
TEACHERS are drawing up strike plans as they prepare to reject a pay deal that would lead to a 10 per cent rise for thousands of staff.
Ministers and council chiefs had hoped an offer to increase salaries by 3 per cent for most employees – and 10 per cent for some – would avert industrial action.
But union bosses yesterday signalled they were preparing to reject the offer as they want an across-the-board hike of 10 per cent.
They seized on the findings of a survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which claimed Scottish teachers are among the lowest-paid in the world, with the longest hours.
Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘There are significant pressures on staff in our schools. Strikes, however, are not the way ahead. They harm the very people we want to help – pupils and their families.
‘For the majority of teachers, the main issue is about workload and that must be urgently addressed by the SNP.’
The largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), is set to reject the new pay proposals when it responds formally to the offer next Tuesday.
It has warned that unless a suitable deal can be reached, it could ballot members for industrial action.
The EIS said: ‘We will continue to negotiate in good faith with both [council umbrella body] Cosla and the Scottish Government.
‘We must be preparing, also, for the likelihood of a ballot during this session and the possibility of industrial action.’
The union is planning a national rally in support of its pay claim next month. Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, said the pay offer was not enough as most teachers would still get only 3 per cent.
Asked if strike action was more or less likely following the revised pay offer, he said: ‘Unless something changes, that [industrial action] is where we will be headed.’
The OECD report shows primary and secondary teachers in Scotland can be asked to teach for up to 855 hours a year, compared with an OECD average of 656-784 hours.
The report found teaching time tops 800 hours in only seven countries surveyed: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Latvia, Mexico, the US
‘SNP must urgently address workload’
and Scotland. In Chile and Scotland, these are the maximum hours teachers could be required to teach, not the typical workload.
Researchers found Scottish teachers spend more than 60 per cent of their working time in the classroom teaching, behind only Colombia. Teachers’ pay in Scotland was slightly under the OECD average.
Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said the figures show that Scotland’s teachers are ‘overworked and underpaid’.
The Scottish Government said: ‘We recognise pressures on teachers and have undertaken a range of actions to ensure a reduction in teacher workload.
‘Teachers’ pay is a matter for the Scottish negotiating committee for teachers and negotiations for 201819 are now well under way.’
Meanwhile, the Transport Sala- ried Staffs’ Association said it has notified ScotRail of its intention to ballot members in a row over working on rest days.
The union wants its members, who include ticket office, platform and control room staff, to have parity with ScotRail drivers, who it claims are paid £300 for working on a rest day. ScotRail said it would continue to try to reach a solution.