Members of Scotland’s largest teachers union will be called out on strike two weeks from today, following the results of a major strike ballot.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) represents more than 60,000 primary and secondary teachers, making up 80% of Scotland’s teacher workforce.
According to the results of the strike ballot released Thursday, 96% of participating members supported striking over pay.
The ballot received a 71% turnout.
And after a meeting late on Thursday afternoon, EIS officials said that the first day of strikes will be Thursday, November 24.
More than 200 readers took our poll last month, with 78% saying that they would support teachers if they moved to strike over pay.
Amid questions about how strikes will affect students, one local representative said that better pay for teachers must be a priority. He said the disruption from a few days of strike will pale in comparison to the consequences of not being able to recruit qualified teachers to well-paying jobs.
Cost-of-living accelerating pay crisis
EIS representatives have been seeking a 10% pay increase for members since February of 2022. That’s well before the beginnings of the current cost-of-living crisis and inflation concerns that are looming over the coming winter.
Union reps rejected the most recent pay rise of 5%, which they say would have amounted to a real-terms pay cut of 7%. The offer was made by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), which represents the employers.
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said that the current financial crisis is only making the situation more serious for teachers.
“In the current context – with the cost of living soaring, and prices of food and fuel, housing and heating continuing to climb ever higher – our members are neither willing nor able to accept a deep real-terms cut to their pay.
“COSLA and the Scottish Government really must now pay attention to Scotland’s teachers and they must come back with a greatly improved pay offer if strike action starting this month is to be avoided.”
Striking as a last resort?
Even before the official strike vote, a consultation ballot made it clear that EIS members were inclined towards industrial action.
Before Thursday’s results were made public, we spoke with Aberdeenshire’s EIS assistant secretary Adam Sutcliffe and asked him how local teachers are feeling.
Although our reader poll suggested support for teachers striking, many parents have said that they worry about more disruption in the classroom. Following years of Covid-19 and remote learning, how will strike action impact pupils?
Mr Sutcliffe said this is something teachers have considered, and they feel it would be worth it.
“Teacher workload is worse than ever. Teachers delivered heroically throughout the Covid pandemic to mitigate some of the consequences to disrupted school life.
“The profession is in dire need of high-quality recruits and teachers’ pay needs to add up if we are to boost numbers. The disruption to education caused by a lack of quality teachers will be far greater than a few days of strike action.”
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