Teaching union rejects new Scottish Government pay deal

Teaching union the EIS has unanimously rejected a fresh pay deal put forward by the Scottish Government and council umbrella group Cosla, meaning strike action will continue to close Scottish schools.

Yesterday the Scottish Government tabled a fresh offer that would have seen teacher pay increase by six per cent for the 2022-23 year, backdated to last April, with a further 5.5 per cent for 2023-24.

Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville called the offer “fair, affordable, and sustainable for everyone involved”.

However, the EIS Salaries Committee, which met this morning, has unanimously rejected it, saying it represents only a “marginal improvement on previously rejected offers”.

EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: “This is another inadequate offer to Scotland’s teachers, which was unanimously rejected by the EIS Salaries Committee earlier today.

“The 6 per cent value of the offer for 2022-23 is insufficient, with CPI inflation currently sitting today at 10.5 per cent.

“The 6 per cent offer for this year is only 1 per cent less of a pay cut than that previously offered, twice, by the Scottish Government and Cosla.

“Teachers have already lost more than 1 per cent of their salaries through being forced into strike action so, essentially, teachers already more than paid for this revised offer themselves.

“This is just yet more smoke and mirrors from the Scottish Government and Cosla in attempting to make this offer appear more generous than it actually is.”

As a result rolling strike action that had seen schools across local authorities close on different days will continue, including in the run up to exams.

In addition to the rolling action, all schools are set to close for two consecutive days at the end of this month.