ELIZABETH Maginnis, the councils’ chief pay negotiator, wants teachers to sell out their conditions of service for a modest extra percentage on this year’s award. I hope the unions, and especially the Educational Institute of Scotland, are not tempted to take up the “offer”.
Mrs Maginnis has tried the tactic before. She did so in 1992 under the cloak of the general election campaign. Teachers told her then to forget the idea and they should do so again now. We all know what would happen. Conditions of service which make a difficult job just tolerable would be worsened for ever. The value of “extra” pay would soon erode.
The further education colleges have gone down the road Mrs Maginnis wants teachers to tread. They now have poorer conditions and, in some cases, threats of redundancy - and only the top tier of management have done well financially. The school sector should heed this example.
Derek Robertson. Gorgie Road. Edinburgh.
