16 more days of rolling school strikes announced
Scotland’s biggest teaching union has announced a series of rolling strikes in an escalation in its stand-off with the Scottish Government and councils.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) said action will take place over 16 consecutive days in January and February, with teachers in two local authorities walking out each day.
The action will start – unless a deal is agreed before then – on January 16 and is due to last until February 6.
EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley praised the teachers who took part in the first strike on Thursday, saying they had been angered by the conduct of the Scottish Government and local authority body Cosla in presenting their latest offer.
National strike days will also take place on January 10 for teachersinprimaryandspecial schools, as well as early years, and on January 11 for those working in secondary schools and secondary special schools.
Announcingthelatestaction, Ms Bradley said: “The EIS will move ahead with our previously announced two additional days of national strike action in January. We can also now confirm that Scotland’s teachers will strike on 16 consecutive days in January and February, with teachers in two local authorities on strike on each of these 16 days.
“We have been forced into the escalation of this action by the lack of willingness to negotiate properly and to pay teachers properly, by a Government that saysitwishedtobejudgedonits record on education. The judgment of Scotland’s teachers on the matter of pay is clear, with the first programme of national strike action that we have engaged in for four decades.
“It is now for the Scottish Government and Cosla to resolve this dispute, and prevent further strike action, by coming back to the negotiating table with a substantially improved pay offer for all of Scotland’s teaching professionals.”
The Scottish Government submitted a pay offer to teachers earlier this week, which was dismissed by the unions. Under that proposal, teachers earning under£40,107wouldreceivean increaseof£1,926peryear–6.85 per cent for those on the lowest salaries – while those on more would get 5 per cent.
The Government has insisted it has no more cash for pay offers,witheducationsecretary Shirley-annesomervillesaying any increase in funding would have to come from elsewhere in the budget. The EIS has been pushing for a minimum of a 10 per cent increase.
Scottish Labour education spokesmanmichaelmarrasaid the announcement of further dates was “inevitable” after the
rejection of the previous offer andcalledonnicolasturgeonto take part in negotiations. “That offer had sat on the Cabinet secretary’s desk for weeks and was only signed off with hours to go before the first all-out teachers strike in 40 years,” he said.
“The Scottish Government has badly mishandled the most critical round of public pay negotiations in decades. The First Minister must personally come to the negotiating table to get a deal done where the Government has failed to dreadfully so far.”