Teaching crisis intensifies as union members threaten to strike over pay

TEACHERS in Scotland are ready to stage a walkout as they demand pay rises of up to 16%.

Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union last night unanimously backed a motion to ballot for strike action if a campaign to hike wages is not successful.

They say have received no meaningful boost since 2003.

The vote, held in Perth at the annual general meeting of the EIS, is another headache for education ministers, after college staff went on strike in a bid to nail down a new £40,000 salary level for lecturers.

As it stands, teachers earn just under £36,000, and union bosses argue their pay packet has lost 16% of its value when living cost rises over the last decade are factored in.

EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: “This AGM has sent out a very strong message to local authority employers and the Scottish Government that action needs to be taken to address declining levels of teachers’ pay.

“Following more than a decade of declining pay, real-term pay cuts and pay freezes, the mood of teachers is hardening.

“The soaring workload facing teachers, combined with the recruitment challenges facing the profession, highlight the need for salary levels to be addressed to ensure that teachers are paid at an appropriate level.

“Today’s votes on pay and potential industrial action highlight that this issue must be addressed urgently by local authorities and the Scottish Government.”

Mr Flanagan attacked local authority umbrella body Cosla for failing to put together a negotiating team to discuss pay, which he described as “unacceptable”.

A motion to the AGM from the West Dunbartonshire local association called for the union’s ruling council to prepare a campaign to restore salaries to their previous value based on inflation figures “and to negotiate on this basis for next year’s pay settlement”.

It adds: “Failure to reach agreement would result in a ballot of members, to begin a campaign of industrial action, including strike action, from the start of the academic year in 2018-19.”

The EIS argue the reduction in pay in real terms since the McCrone deal of 2001 has led to a recruitment crisis across Scotland, while the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association has said graduates are turning away from education because promotion was restricted to the “elite few”.

Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: “The time has come for John Swinney to sit up and listen to what teachers are telling him.

“For 10 years, the SNP has taken teachers for granted, slashing their numbers by 4000 and cutting the resources they have to teach year on year.

“Meanwhile, ministers have increased teachers’ workload and reduced pay in real terms.

“No wonder we have a recruitment crisis in schools.

“The SNP should drop its misguided plans to centralise school education, and should restore cuts to education funding and ensure our schools have enough teachers with support to do their job.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are absolutely committed to freeing up teachers to do what they do best – teach – and have already acted to reduce workloads.

“Teachers’ pay and conditions are matters for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers.

“Negotiations are currently ongoing and the Scottish Government will play its part.”