Online group’s comments reveal strength of feeling

COMMENTS on the Reclaim EIS Facebook page – a campaign set up to defend teachers’ pay and conditions – revealed the sense of anger felt by many.

Lewis Buchan: “The McCrone deal had measures in place to help control workload. McCormac removes those protections and adds those tasks that are presently Annex E, ie tasks which shouldn’t be done by teachers. The call for ‘flexibility’ is nothing more than a call for us to work excessive hours.”

Martin Cairns: “The time for talk is over – we need to speak with one unified voice (irrespective of which union you belong to) and say absolutely no. We need action not debate; we need to hold our morally bankrupt political institutions to account.”

Jane Sutherland: “Significant changes? It’s gutted the heart of our terms and conditions!”

David Grant: “The cuts are being used as a Trojan horse to smuggle in measures that are designed to give management greater control but won’t save one single brass farthing. ‘Flexibility’ should be understood in the neo-liberal sense: more power to the boss class at the expense of the foot-soldiers.”

Paul: “I am extremely concerned at the ‘increased flexibility’ (management speak for blind compliance and over-work). I see us going along the [path of] ‘it’s up to you to get CPD [Continuing Professional Development] and experiences to remain accredited – there may not be courses but you’d better do it!’”