EIS: Reject the pay insult and prepare to strike 

By Jim Halfpenny, West Dunbartonshire EIS joint secretary (personal capacity)

After blatant and deliberate procrastination by the local authority employers, COSLA, and the Scottish Government, the largest teachers’ unions in Scotland, the EIS, has opened a consultative ballot of its members on the latest pay offer to teachers, which is now 9 months overdue. 

The pay offer is a scandalous 1% rise from April 2021 and a 1% increase from January 2022.

The EIS is urging all of its members to reject the offer on the table which amounts to a significant real-terms pay cut.

This comes at a time of soaring workload as teachers continue to work beyond their contractual hours to support young people in the wake of the Covid pandemic. 

While COSLA and the Scottish Government continue to talk up the value of education they simultaneously seek to undervalue teachers and deliver a real-terms cut to their salary and their their families living conditions. 

EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan has said, “Teachers must send a very clear message by strongly rejecting this sub-inflationary pay offer. COSLA and the Scottish Government have dragged their feet for more than a year in these negotiations, while teachers work themselves into the ground supporting young people and education recovery. 

“Inflation is now more than 5 percent and still climbing. MSPs – who are not frontline workers and are not working in crowded school buildings – are to be awarded a 3.4% increase this year. This far outstrips the offer to Scotland’s teachers and clearly demonstrates the inadequate and unfair nature of the current offer from COSLA and Scottish Government.”

In a recent survey of 16,000 teachers carried out by the EIS, 

• 88% of teachers indicated that their workload burden has increased during the pandemic. 

• 61% of teachers reported that workload levels had increased “significantly” during this period. 

• 80% of Secondary teachers reported significantly increased workload related to SQA qualifications. 

• The vast majority of teachers (93%) work above their contracted hours each week. 

• 45% of full-time teachers work more than 8 extra hours every week – equivalent to over one extra full day of work each week, over and above contractual commitments. 

Larry Flanagan continued: “Clearly, changes brought about in response to the pandemic have had an impact on teacher workload with additional tasks requiring to be undertaken on a daily basis to help keep classrooms safe.” “The increased emphasis on digital learning – be that in the classroom or remotely from home – has created challenges for teachers, often associated with a lack of suitable equipment and resources. Teachers are also reporting a significant amount of time dealing with pupil behaviour as many young people continue the struggle to overcome the negative impact of the pandemic on their lives.”

The survey also identifies a substantial increase in the workload associated with supporting pupils with Additional Support Needs. 61% of all teachers identified meeting the Additional Support Needs, including the mental health support needs, of pupils as a significant driver of workload increases over the past year – with the figure even higher (66%) within the primary sector. 

In the shadow of this workload crisis comes a derisory pay offer which will only further anger teachers throughout Scotland. 

The likelihood of an overwhelming vote to reject this offer will allow us to move quickly to a ballot for industrial action. The online ballot will close on the 31st of January.