TURNING THE STREETS GREEN AND PINK
As previously announced, the EIS is organising a national demonstration of members to take place on Saturday 11th March in Glasgow.
We plan to turn the streets of Glasgow green and pink this time as we march from Kelvingrove Park to Glasgow Green for a rally.
Be sure to mark the date in your calendar!
TIMELINE
6 JANUARY 2023
TEACHING UNIONS REMAIN WILLING TO TALK – BUT ONLY AN IMPROVED OFFER CAN END PAY DISPUTE
Following a request from the Scottish Government, teacher trade unions representatives met informally with Scottish Government and COSLA representatives to discuss the outstanding teachers’ pay claim for 2022/23 – a pay claim that should have been settled and paid to teachers in April last year. In the absence of any new offer, it was announced the planned strike action for 10th & 11th January would proceed as scheduled.
MONDAY 9TH JANUARY 2023
The meeting of the Extended Joint Chairs of the SNCT, held at the request of teaching unions, ended with no new pay offer to teachers from the Scottish Government and COSLA.
TUESDAY 10TH JANUARY
CONTINUING STRONG SUPPORT AS TEACHERS STRIKE IN SCOTLAND’S PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Thousands of teachers in Scotland’s primary schools took strike action as the campaign for a fair pay settlement for teaching professionals continued.
Picket lines were in place at primary schools the length and breadth of Scotland, sending a clear message to the Scottish Government and COSLA that they must improve their pay offer to teachers.
WEDNESDAY 11TH JANUARY 2023
VIRTUALLY ALL SCOTTISH SECONDARY SCHOOLS CLOSED AS TEACHER PAY STRIKE CONTINUES
Following the highly successful strike in the primary sector, Secondary teachers and associated professionals took part in strike action and, once again, turned out in huge numbers on picket lines and at demonstrations and rallies right across Scotland.
Amongst the demonstrations was a rally of teachers outside Bute House in Edinburgh, the official residence of the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
THURSDAY 12TH JANUARY 2023
NO NEW PAY OFFER PRESENTED TO TEACHERS – STRIKE ACTION TO CONTINUE
The SNCT Extended Joint Chairs met this afternoon at 1630hrs. Disappointingly, no new offer was brought to the table by Scottish Government and COSLA. The next cycle of scheduled strike action by EIS members will go ahead as planned.
FRIDAY 13TH JANUARY
EIS ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL 22 DAYS OF STRIKE ACTION AS TEACHER PAY DISPUTE ESCALATES
The EIS Executive Committee agreed a programme of additional strike action that will include two days of national strike action in all schools and sectors on 28 February and 1 March, followed by a rolling programme of strikes for 20 days between 13 March and 21 April.
Over the rolling strike period, each local authority area will be impacted by three consecutive days of strike action, with one day of strike action in all schools bookended on either side by one-day strikes in primary and secondary schools.
MONDAY 16TH JANUARY
16-DAY ROLLING PROGRAMME OF TEACHER STRIKES UNDERWAY ACROSS SCOTLAND
Schools in Glasgow and East Lothian were closed today, as members of the EIS took strike action at the start of a 16-day rolling programme of industrial action across Scotland.
FRIDAY 20TH JANUARY
SNCT EXTENDED JOINT CHAIRS MEETING
Scottish Government and COSLA representatives came to Friday’s meeting of the SNCT Extended Joint Chairs with nothing – nothing but rejection of the suggestions made by the Teachers’ Side’s as to how some compromise might be reached in the interests of settling the dispute.
The meeting concluded with no progress having been made and no date for a further meeting. The Teachers’ Side repeated yet again the potential way forward – a reasonable amount of additional money being found to fund a fairer settlement – and outlined both the short term and long-term risks to Education, if the current intransigence continues.
25 JANUARY 2023
BIRTHDAY OF SCOTLAND’S BARD MARKED BY CONTINUING TEACHER STRIKES ACROSS SCOTLAND
Teachers in Edinburgh and South Ayrshire marked the birthday of Scotland’s national Bard, Rabbie Burns, as the EIS programme of rolling national strike action over pay continued.
Well-supported picket lines were in operation outside schools in Edinburgh and South Ayrshire on the 25th of January, before teachers gathered at the Mound in Edinburgh and at Burns’ Cottage in Alloway to make the case for an improved pay deal for Scotland’s teachers.
Commenting, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “As we mark the birthday of Scotland’s world-famous national Bard, Rabbie Burns, the teachers who will educate the country’s next generation of poets and authors, doctors and nurses, lawyers and judges – and a great many more besides – are continuing their programme of strike action in pursuit of a fair pay settlement.“
Despite these unwanted strikes and the impact on the education of our young people, the Scottish Government and COSLA are still refusing to budge on their inferior, sub-inflation pay offer that has been so overwhelmingly rejected by teachers.”
Ms Bradley added, “As Burns wrote, O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us – well, Scotland’s teachers know how the public, parents and pupils of Scotland see us.“
They see us as vital public sector workers who worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and beyond to support young people. The support for teachers from parents, carers, pupils and the wider community continues to shine through on the picket lines, at rallies, on social media and in news coverage of our ongoing dispute.“
Sadly, it seems only to be the councils who employ teachers and the Scottish Government who hold the purse strings that fail to appreciate the value of Scotland’s teachers.”
Thomas Clark is a poet and writer who works mainly in the Scots language. His books for children include Diary o a Wimpy Wean, A Series o Scunnersome Events, and Peppa’s Bonnie Unicorn. His most recent book is a Scots translation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Tae a Teacher
The back o eight. Yer caur’s jist stalled.The sun’s no up. The clessroom’s cauld.The brand-new heatin they’ve installedJist couldnae take it.Eight oors aheid o bairns appalledTae shed their jaikets.
Owerheid the buzz o broken lichtsWhase hauf-flourescent heid-ache blightsThe corner whaur wee Steven writesWhit’s on the board –The boy needs glesses, but his plightsHae been ignored.
Nae aipple frae adorin fans,But on yer desk – some lesson plansFor science, maths, an Scottish clans,The lairnin goal -Ye dae mair than ten ithers can,Yet still ye thole.
Frae noo tae four, five, hauf-past sixYe’ll gie oot hope an red-pen ticksAn strive wi aw yer micht tae fixThe dreams o weans.The morra, in this pile o bricks -The same again.
An aw for whit? School holidays,A fecht tae get a fair week’s pay,Thon lang-extendit wirkin dayThat touches nicht,Aw, aye – an aw the guid ye dae,The wrangs ye richt.
We dinnae ken the things ye’ve gied usUntil thon final bell has freed us,An life itsel begins tae threid usUpon its line.We cannae tell ye – ye cannae see us –But we’re daein fine.
Wee tousle heids bow ower the test,Their herts an minds for noo at rest.If aw their days were jist as blessed,They’d no be doitit -Oor bairns deserve the very best,In you, they’ve got it.- Thomas Clark
FRIDAY 27TH JANUARY
EIS COUNCIL PRAISES TEACHER STRIKE ACTION, CONDEMNS LACK OF CONSTRUCTIVE DISCUSSIONS ON PAY
The national Council of the EIS, comprised of teacher representatives from across Scotland, praised Scotland’s teachers for their ongoing programme of strike action in pursuit of an improved pay deal from the Scottish Government and COSLA.
THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2023
EIS SALARIES COMMITTEE URGES FIRST MINISTER TO RELEASE FUNDS TO SETTLE TEACHER PAY DISPUTE
The Salaries Committee of the EIS has highlighted that the First Minister has it within her power to bring an end to the current dispute over teacher pay.
This follows a question at First Minister’s Questions in Parliament today, where the First Minister said that she “very much hoped” that a resolution to the pay dispute could be reached “soon”.
MONDAY 6TH FEBRUARY 2023
16 DAYS OF ROLLING STRIKE ACTION BY EIS MEMBERS DRAWS TO A CLOSE
The programme of rolling strike action by EIS members drew to a close today as members in Inverclyde and Shetland turned out on picket lines and at local rallies to protest the Scottish Government’s and COSLA’s inaction over pay.
If there is no new offer brought to the table, strike action will continue on 28th February and 1st March.
TUESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2023
EIS ANNOUNCES STRIKE ESCALATION
Following a special meeting of EIS Executive, the EIS announced an escalation of its programme of action to include targeted strikes.
The targeted action, set to start on the 22nd of February, will involve three consecutive days of strike action in the constituencies of key decision makers including the First Minister, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education.
Members taking this additional action receive full strike-pay for these days of action.
