Scotland’s biggest teaching union has announced dates for more strikes in an escalation of its pay dispute with the Scottish government and councils.
The EIS said action will take place over 16 consecutive days in January and February, with teachers in two local authorities walking out each day.
Unless a deal is agreed before then, it will start on 16 January and end on 6 February.
EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley praised the teachers who took part in the first strike yesterday, saying they had been angered by the conduct of the Scottish government and local authorities’ body Cosla in presenting their latest pay offer.
More teacher strike days ahead
National strike days will also take place on 10 January for teachers in primary and primary special schools, as well as in early years settings, and on 11 January for those working in secondary schools and secondary special schools.
Ms Bradley said: “We have been forced into the escalation of this action by the lack of willingness to negotiate properly and to pay teachers properly, by a government that says it wished to be judged on its record on education.
“The judgment of Scotland’s teachers on the matter of pay is clear, with the first programme of national strike action that we have engaged in for four decades.
“It is now for the Scottish government and Cosla to resolve this dispute, and prevent further strike action, by coming back to the negotiating table with a substantially improved pay offer for all of Scotland’s teaching professionals.”
The Scottish government submitted a pay offer to teachers earlier this week, which was summarily dismissed by the unions.
While there was a 6.85 per cent offer for probationers, most were still offered the same 5 per cent that had previously been put on the table.
The government has insisted it has no more cash for pay offers, with education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville saying any increase in funding would have to come from elsewhere in the budget.
The EIS has been campaiging for a minimum 10 per cent increase.
Scottish Labour education spokesperson Michael Marra said the announcement of further dates was “inevitable” after the rejection of the previous offer and called on first minister Nicola Sturgeon to take part in negotiations.
“That offer had sat on the cabinet secretary’s desk for weeks and was only signed off with hours to go before the first all-out teachers’ strike in 40 years,” he said.
“The Scottish government has badly mishandled the most critical round of public pay negotiations in decades
“Money should have been in the budget for public sector pay deals at the start of the budget year. Instead we now have a crisis that is escalating fast.”
Mr Marra added: “The first minister must personally come to negotiating table to get a deal done where the government has failed to dreadfully so far.”
