Swinney at centre of perfect storm over pay for teachers and lecturers

JOHN Swinney has a lot on his plate as he strives with the Scottish

Government’s defining mission of closing the attainment gap between rich and poor.

Being derailed by the perfect storm of industrial action over pay in both school and college sectors is the last thing the Education Secretary needs.

Teachers are demanding a 10 per cent pay rise across the board after a decade of austerity, while college lecturers want cost of living increases on top of an existing harmonisation deal which pushed the top of the pay scale to more than £40,000.

Mr Swinney, alongside council employers and college management, believes the offers on the table for both sectors are the most affordable possible and also deliver on a number of other priorities.

The minister said an extra £25 million for teachers on top of the three per cent pay rise for all staff, and annual progression, would see all teachers on the main grade scale receiving at least a five per cent increase – with some getting up to 11 per cent to help recruitment and retention.

By seeking to contact teachers directly to inform them of the detail of the deal Mr Swinney clearly believes classroom staff will see the offer as beneficial, regardless of what their unions are telling them.

A similar lack of movement in college negotiations is likely to be motivated by concern that, having delivered higher salaries for most lecturers through harmonisation, unions are still coming back for more.

If industrial action ballots come back strongly in favour of strikes then that might shift thinking.

The gamble for unions, even with a united membership, is whether the wider public, equally affected by austerity, will have sympathy for protracted strikes over pay demands which exceed their own limited expectations.

The crucial factor might be that, while both strikes are ostensibly about pay, particularly in schools, there is genuine anger over the impact of wider cuts.

If the current campaign harnesses a more deep-seated frustration over mounting stress and workload then this battle is likely to be a lengthy one.