Teachers in Scottish city vote overwhelmingly for strike action over education cuts
Teachers in Glasgow have voted for strike action over city council education cuts, it has been announced.
A statutory industrial action ballot, organised by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), closed today.
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Hide AdThe nation’s largest teaching union said a total of 95 per cent of those participating backed strike action. Turnout was 57 per cent.


Official figures show Glasgow City Council cut 120 FTE teaching posts last year, the highest number in Scotland, although not the largest proportionally.
The local authority has also refused to commit to restoring teacher numbers to 2023 levels, as was promised in the wake of a recent deal between Cosla and the Scottish Government.
The EIS said it had notified Glasgow City Council of the ballot result and it intends to call its members out on strike unless the programme of cuts is halted and reversed.
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Hide AdGeneral Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “This is an outstanding ballot result, through which our members in Glasgow have sent a very clear message to Glasgow City Council that they must stop, and reverse, their programme of damaging education cuts.
“The impact of the cuts is already being felt in schools across Glasgow, with in the region of 300 teaching posts having been removed already by the council.
“This is having a profoundly negative impact on the operation of Glasgow’s schools, a detrimental impact on the educational experiences of pupils across the city, some of whom are the most socio-economically deprived in Scotland, and is compounding what can only be described as crisis levels of teacher workload.”
Ms Bradley added, “It is now time for Glasgow City Council to ditch its damaging cuts, and recommit to working with teachers and teaching unions to deliver the best possible education provision for the young people of Glasgow that does not come at the cost of teacher jobs or teacher wellbeing at work.”
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Hide AdEIS Glasgow Local Association Secretary Jane Gow said: “Our members in Glasgow have demonstrated, through this ballot result, that they are willing to fight to protect education in Glasgow. The teachers in our schools know very well the impact that these cuts are having on learning and teaching, and they have shown that they are willing to take strike action to force the council into a reversal.”
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “The EIS has notified us of the outcome of their statutory ballot and their mandate for potential strike action.”
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