Teachers will get 7% back to April, 5% next month, and 2% in January.
The biggest Scottish teaching union, EIS, has reached a pay deal to end school strikes.
When the pay offer was made last week, the union suspended strikes. A total of 82% of eligible voters participated in the vote, according to the EIS. Which indicated that 90% of those who participated in the vote supported the agreement.
Shirley-Anne Somerville, secretary of education, described the offer as “fair, affordable, and sustainable.”
According to the EIS, teacher remuneration will increase by 12.3% next month and 14.6% in January 2024.
General Secretary Andrea Bradley stated, “While it falls short of our hopes for a restorative pay settlement, it is the best agreement that can realistically be reached in the current political and economic climate without further protracted industrial action.”
It compares favorably to recent pay settlements across the public sector and provides teachers in Scotland with pay certainty until the next pay settlement is scheduled in August 2024.
The EIS, SSTA, and NASUWT teaching unions have been engaged in a year-long labor dispute with local councils.
The impasse was resolved last week when councils, using additional funds from the Scottish government, made a new offer that would raise the salaries of the majority of teachers by $5,200 in April.
Targeted strikes were being conducted in the constituencies of prominent politicians, including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Deputy First Minister John Swinney, when the EIS intervened.
On Thursday, an overwhelming majority of SSTA members voted to approve the agreement.
The NASUWT union said it would vote among its members on the deal. But called it “paltry” and short of what teachers wanted.
The teachers’ strike has essentially ended. The EIS and SSTA, two of the three unions that serve classroom teachers, have accepted the pay offer.
The third organization, the NASUWT, is urging rejection and is still consulting its members. The AHDS, which represents heads and deputies, also intends to approve it. This indicates that the compensation offer will almost certainly be implemented.
The resolution is a compromise, as is typical in labor disputes. Both parties conceded.
The 7% increase for 2022-23 is below the 10% pay claim. The 5% increase in April and the 2% increase in January are still below inflation. However, it’s better than the deal before the strikes, with most instructors getting 5%.
Few instructors, however, will feel like celebrating a victory. Many were dismayed that industrial action of this magnitude was necessary and was acutely aware of the impact that strikes could have on children, adolescents, and families.
The unions had anticipated that the mere threat of a strike would be sufficient.
The question now is whether the pay dispute has damaged the relationship between teachers’ unions, employers, and the Scottish government.
Teachers wanted a 10% raise this year, and strikes closed nearly all Scottish schools.
The remuneration agreement follows discussions between the EIS, Shirley-Anne Somerville, and John Swinney last week.
Ms. Somerville praised the EIS referendum result and called it a “historic” agreement.
She continued, “Scottish teachers are already the highest paid in the United Kingdom, and this agreement will result in a pay increase of $5,200 for the majority of teachers in April, and a total increase of 33% since January 2018.
“A resolution to this dispute and an end to the threat of further strike disruption in our schools will be a tremendous relief for children, young people, parents, carers, and teachers, too.”
The Scottish Conservatives charged Ms. Somerville with being “asleep at the tiller” regarding the strike action.
Stephen Kerr MSP, the party’s education spokesman, stated, “Had Shirley-Anne Somerville been on top of her brief and shown the required urgency to resolve it, it would not have persisted this long or caused so much disruption to our children’s education.”
Ms. Somerville was also criticized by Scottish Labour for taking too long to settle.
Michael Marra, MSP, a spokesperson for education, stated, “The SNP administration must reconsider its approach to industrial relations.
The delay tactics have harmed Scotland’s students, who have now missed an entire week of classes this academic year.
Willie Rennie MSP, the education spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, stated that it was a “travesty” that it took so long to reach an agreement.
He added, “The protracted and acrimonious dispute has caused incalculable harm to the relationship between the teaching profession and an SNP government that assured them they were paid more than enough.”
