Teacher strikes Scotland: EIS teaching union backs pay deal to end long-running strikes
Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) voted by 90 per cent to accept the offer, on an 82 per turnout.
10 per cent of members rejected the latest offer.
The offer will see teachers receive a 7 per cent rise backdated to April last year, a further 5 per cent at the start of this financial year, and another 2 per cent in January next year.
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Hide AdYesterday, members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) voted to accept the latest pay offer from local authority employers, halting strike action and bringing their industrial dispute to an end.
Scottish Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville welcomed the announcements.
She said: “It is the most generous offer to teachers in more than 20 years and one that is fair, affordable and sustainable for everyone involved.
“Teachers in Scotland are already the best paid in the UK and this deal will mean a salary rise of £5,200 in April for most teachers, and a cumulative rise of 33% since January 2018.
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Hide Ad“A resolution to this dispute and an end to the threat of further strike disruption in our schools will be a huge relief for children, young people, parents, carers, and teachers too.”
The EIS tweeted: “Pay offer will be accepted. All strike action in pursuit of an improved teachers’ pay offer cancelled.”
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “EIS members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the current pay offer, with 90% of those voting opting to accept in an online ballot. Turnout in the ballot was also high, confirming that Scotland’s teachers believe that it is now time to accept the offer and bring an end to the programme of industrial action in our schools.”
Ms Bradley added: “The acceptance of this offer will mean that, for most teachers, their pay will increase by 12.3% by next month in comparison to current pay levels. This includes a backdated 7 per cent increase from April 2022, and a 5 per cent increase from this April.
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Hide Ad"Teachers will also receive a further 2 per cent increase in pay from January next year, with the next pay settlement then scheduled to be negotiated and payable from August 2024 onwards. The total current package will amount to a 14.6 per cent increase in pay for most teachers by January 2024.
“EIS members have taken a pragmatic decision in voting to accept the current pay offer. While it does not meet our aspirations in respect of a restorative pay settlement for Scotland’s teachers, it is the best deal that can realistically be achieved in the current political and financial climate without further prolonged industrial action. It compares favourably with recent pay settlements across the public sector, and does provide pay certainty for Scotland’s teachers for the next 16 months until the next pay settlement is scheduled to be delivered in August 2024.”
Ms Bradley continued: “It is deeply regrettable that it took a sustained industrial dispute, and the first programme of national strike action on pay by teachers in forty years, for the Scottish Government and COSLA to finally come up with an acceptable pay offer for Scotland’s hard-working teaching professionals. Scotland’s pupils, parents and teachers deserve better, and the Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities must commit to ensuring that education is properly funded, and that teachers are fairly paid, in all future years in order that Scottish Education can provide as it should for our young people and for the good of our whole society.”
Scottish Conservative education spokesman Stephen Kerr said: “Pupils, parents and teachers will be breathing a sigh of relief this deeply damaging dispute finally looks like it is over.
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Hide Ad“But it would never have lasted this long – and caused so much disruption to our children’s education – had Shirley-Anne Somerville been on top of her brief and shown the required urgency to resolve it.”
Scottish Green education spokesman Ross Greer said he was “delighted that teachers will now receive their biggest pay uplift in two decades”.
He added: “This is a fantastic result for them and for students who no longer face potential disruption to their upcoming exams.”
NASUWT members are also involved in the dispute and its general secretary, Patrick Roach, had condemned the latest offer from Ms Somerville as “only a paltry improvement” on the previous proposal.
That union is also balloting its members on the deal.