School Leaders Scotland (SLS) is advising its members to reject the new teacher pay offer.
SLS, which represents members in the secondary sector, made the decision after a meeting last night (Sunday 5 March) and is now holding a “representative ballot” on the pay offer, which will close at the end of the week.
Over the weekend, SLS heard from many members unhappy at Friday’s pay offer, which outlined that percentage-based pay increases will not be made to many school leaders, who would instead receive a flat pay rise.
The results of the SLS ballot will then be shared with the Scottish Negotiating for Teachers (SNCT), of which SLS is a part, before SLS decides on any further action. One option would be to conduct a formal ballot on industrial action.
The new offer would see the majority of teachers receive a 7 per cent increase from 1 April 2022, a further increase of 5 per cent from 1 April 2023, and another increase of 2 per cent from 1 January 2024. Also, thereafter, the pay year will be aligned with the school year (rather than the financial year starting each April) with effect from August 2024.
In making the new offer on Friday, local authorities body Cosla said: “For the vast majority of the SNCT workforce, the 28-month undifferentiated offer equates to a 14.6 per cent cumulative increase in salary at the point when the third increase is applied.”
(For context, the EIS has recently been sharing data showing a 24 per cent real-terms decline in teacher pay since 2008.)
However, Cosla also stated on Friday that “for those already earning over £80,000 or above, the 28-month offer has a monetary value of £11,200”. Anyone on points 14-19 on the depute head/headteacher pay scale in Scotland earns over £80,000 and would be subject to this flat pay rise.
SLS says that a “significant minority” of its members are in the bracket that would be affected by the £80,000 cap.
SLS general secretary Jim Thewliss said there was a lot of anger among school leaders, especially given that a similar cap had been applied to the 2021-22 pay deal.
“Our members are angry because they feel devalued by the new offer, which does not treat them in the same way as other members of the teaching profession,” said Mr Thewliss, who added that in recent years the range of duties on headteachers in Scotland has been constantly expanding.
Mr Thewliss said that SLS was also unhappy that details of the new offer were arranged outwith the SNCT and directly with the EIS teaching union, but with other members of the SNCT such as SLS not involved.
NASUWT Scotland has also hit out at the way last Friday’s new teacher offer was negotiated. In a statement released on Saturday the union’s national officer for Scotland, Mike Corbett, accused the government of “secret dealing”.
The union said it was expecting its ballot on the offer to open later today (6 March) and would be neither recommending that members accept or reject. Responding to the offer, NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach described it as “only a paltry improvement over the previous offer that was rejected by our members”. Mr Corbett said the new offer remained “a significant pay cut for teachers however it is dressed up”.
The EIS, Scotland’s largest teaching union, is also balloting its members on the new offer and is recommending they accept the offer. The ballot is set to close at 10am on Friday (10 March).
The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) said on Friday that it planned to conduct a formal online ballot “undertaken by an independent scrutineer” this week. It said members could expect further details early in the week.
SSTA members narrowly voted to accept the previous pay offer made on 14 February, which was rejected outright by the EIS. Based on a turnout of 76 per cent, 53 per cent of SSTA members who took part in a “consultative survey” were in favour of accepting the previous deal resulting in “a toxic environment in some schools” as the SSTA withdrew from the strikes held last week.
Primary headteachers’ body AHDS told Tes Scotland that it would be accepting the new teacher pay offer.
AHDS had already called off its industrial action on the basis of the previous 14 February offer.
International data shows that Scottish headteachers are paid less than their counterparts in many other countries, including those elsewhere in the UK; the headteacher and depute head pay scale in Scotland extends from £52,350 to £99,609. The relatively low increase in pay when school leaders make the jump up to headteacher has long been cited as a reason when it comes to filling vacant headship posts.
In a ballot in November in response to a previous pay offer, 69 per cent of SLS members who voted were in favour of striking. However, this was based on a turnout of 38 per cent, meaning only 26 per cent (190) of the 723 members eligible to vote were in favour; legislation requires at least a 50 per cent turnout for a trade union ballot on industrial action to be successful.
