Teachers set to strike as they demand 10pc pay rise
MEMBERS of Scotland’s largest teaching union are threatening to strike over demands for an inflationbusting 10 per cent pay rise.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is facing growing pressure from teachers to embark upon industrial action amid the increasingly bitter salaries row.
Ministers are proposing a 3 per cent increase for public sector workers earning up to £36,500 – but the EIS wants a 10 per cent rise for all teachers.
And the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) said this year that 90 per cent of members had backed industrial action in a 2017 survey, if this year’s pay offer fell below demands.
It is understood initial plans drawn up by union bosses could see mass walkouts staged when pupils return after summer, causing chaos in schools.
Last night, Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘There can be no doubt that there are significant pressures on staff in our schools and that some of these are contributing to teacher recruitment issues and to weakening morale.
‘Strikes however, are not the way ahead. They harm the very people we want to help, namely the pupils themselves and their families.
‘For the majority of teachers, I believe the main issue is workload and that is something that must be urgently addressed by the SNP.’
The EIS action will be debated by delegates at their annual general meeting in Dundee next week, and if approved could lead to widespread walkouts.
Salaries are set by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), which includes teachers’ representatives as well as councils and the Scottish Government. But in March teachers on the SNCT confirmed they had rejected the offer of a 2 or 3 per cent pay rise.
Last night, EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: ‘The annual general meeting always sparks considerable debate.
‘This year’s event comes in the middle of a major EIS campaign on teachers’ pay in
‘Strikes are not the way ahead’
which we are challenging the Scottish Government and local authorities to demonstrate that they value education and value teachers.
‘The message to local authorities and the Scottish Government is clear – if you truly value education, you also need to value teachers by paying them a professional salary. The delivery of a 10 per cent pay increase for all teachers this year is an essential first step to restoring teachers’ pay to an appropriate level, and starting to address the teacher recruitment and retention problems facing schools.’
A motion by the EIS council – its ruling body - and the union’s Edinburgh local association calls for a move to ‘building towards a state of “strike readiness”; and to prepare for a ballot of members’.
The South Lanarkshire local association is calling for EIS bosses ‘to consider targeted strike action’.
And a motion by the East Renfrewshire local association calls for the EIS ‘to ballot members for industrial action up to and including strike action’ if the pay settlement is ‘not satisfactory’.
Meanwhile, the Glasgow and East Renfrewshire associations want the union to ‘investigate the use of the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) money to establish whether it is successfully targeted at raising attainment of pupils from the most deprived families’.
Nicola Sturgeon created the £120million PEF for schools to help bridge the educational divide between rich and poor.
But last year there were claims that taxpayers’ money intended to tackle the attainment gap between the best and worst-performing schools had been spent on topping up teachers’ pay.
Commenting on the pay row, a Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Teachers’ pay is a matter for the SNCT and negotiations are under way. The Scottish Government will play its part in those discussions, and we urge everyone around the table to take a constructive approach.’