Teachers back boycott ballot in battle over education cuts

Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the EIS, warned that more attacks on the teaching profession were looming.

He spoke after the membership at their annual conference in Perth yesterday backed industrial action, short of a strike, to protect their working conditions.

Teachers also voted to ballot on a boycott of any further developments in the Curriculum for Excellence in protests at cuts to education. The ballot must be held by November.

A recent deal, backed by the union last month, will see cuts of 45 million to teachers' pay and conditions.

Acceptance of that deal split the EIS membership, with many delegates hitting out at the leadership on the opening day of the conference on Thursday for the "breach of trust".

They accused their representatives on the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNTC) of selling out by urging members to accept the deal.

Yesterday, Mr Smith tried to draw a line under the schism and begged teachers to stand united against cuts by councils.

In his keynote address, he condemned local authority umbrella group Cosla's submission to the Scottish Government- commissioned McCormac review of teachers' pay and conditions as a "miserable" attempt to save money.

He said: "Cosla has made clear that the only driver is crudely to save money. Educational considerations are cast aside. The education lights have gone out at Cosla.

"It is critically important that they do not fall into that trap if they are to have any credibility in the eyes of the teaching profession."

He added: "Cosla's miserable submission to the McCormac review lays bare their true agenda. It is little more than an attempt to shred every meaningful aspect of the agreement that has brought stability and improvement to Scottish education over the past decade.

"Teachers are not even to be seen primarily as teachers of pupils - but as some kind of generic local authority worker, open to being called upon to work wherever and whenever their managers decide and carrying out such tasks as their managers demand.

"Instead of having a coherent career structure, teachers will be offered the occasional tit-bit of a little envelope of money here in return for a little bit of extra work there. All of this is presented as speaking on behalf of the children's interest.

It is politically illiterate not to understand that the good teaching can only be built on a strong profession - with good working conditions, good remuneration arrangements and high quality, professional leadership at all levels."

On the wider education picture, he painted a gloomy picture. He said: "We are far from seeing the light at the end of tunnel. We face many more serious challenges ahead. Most immediately we face what may flow from the McCormac review."

Mr Smith was speaking after delegates had voted in favour of taking industrial action to defend their pay and conditions.

However, a further motion demanding a clear timetable on action, including a strike and targeted action was rejected by delegates.

Hugh Donnelly, secretary of the EIS's Glasgow association, spoke in favour of industrial action if the pay and conditions of teachers is further threatened by the McCormac review of the profession due later this year.

Cosla sparked controversy earlier this year, by proposing a raft of new measures. They included linking performance of teachers in promoted management posts with pay, reducing the time teachers have to prepare lessons, cutting the pay of supply teachers and changes to sick pay.

Mr Donnelly said: "We have to send a clear signal message that we will not tolerate a deterioration in our terms and conditions, that we will not pay for the cuts."

Another delegate, Douglas Mackie, said: "There is a lot of anger in schools, this (industrial action] goes some way to turn that anger into positive action."

Charlie McKinnon, of the Glasgow local association, said: "If we don't resort to industrial action there will be nothing left of our terms and conditions."

The union has a long-standing position in favour of a delay in the introduction of new qualifications due to replace the discredited Standard Grade.

Earlier this month, the Curriculum for Excellence management board agreed individual departments in schools who were not ready could delay introduction of the new Nationals 4 and 5, but only in exceptional circumstances.

Michael Dolan, of West Dunbartonshire, likened introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence to a large business taking a chance on a new initiative.

He said: "If a business fails their customers, they can go elsewhere and the business goes bust. But in education we cannot afford to bow to the whims of a passing politician."

Delegates also backed a moratorium on the new school curriculum, in a separate motion, because harsh cuts are making it impossible to deliver effectively.

An overwhelming majority of delegates voted in favour of both motions, including one demanding a delay on all new developments, on the Curriculum for Excellence because of the cuts and changes to teachers' working conditions.

The McCormac review was set up to examine whether the previous deal on teachers pay and working conditions, known as the McCrone deal, was sustainable or successful.It is due to report later in the year and is already controversial.

Education secretary Mike Russell said last night: "Speaking to teachers across Scotland there is clear support for Curriculum for Excellence and a clear recognition of its vital role in raising ambition and attainment levels in our schools."