Teachers to vote on strike over pensions

Ballot papers will be sent to members this month, and the EIS is recommending its members should vote in favour of strike action, with an initial strike set to take place in November.

EIS general secretary Ronnie Smith said: “Today’s decision has not been taken lightly. Scottish education and Scottish teachers have taken a series of painful hits in recent years as the result of a financial crisis that was not of their making.

“Education budgets have been trimmed to the bone, and teachers have reluctantly accepted a pay freeze and changes to their terms and conditions which have saved the government £45 million this year alone.

“The message being sent today is that teachers have already taken more than their fair share of pain for the mistakes of the government and the banks, and we are not prepared to accept any more.”

Last month a sub-committee of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) recommended balloting its members over UK government proposals to increase pension contributions while reducing the amount teachers will receive in retirement.

Now a decision by its executive committee gives the green light to a formal postal ballot of its members, which is set to take place throughout October.

Mr Smith continued: “I would urge all teachers to back the call to action. The government’s plans to force teachers to work longer, pay more, and receive less in their pension is a triple whammy.

“At a time when the cost of living is soaring, the prospects of pension changes that would make every single Scottish teacher significantly financially worse-off are simply unpalatable.”

Teachers have already agreed – at the EIS’s AGM in June – to use industrial action to resist any deterioration in their conditions of service