Back to work, back to campaigning
As EIS Council members gathered in Edinburgh for the first time this session, the focus was on building the recently-launched campaign Stand Up for Quality Education. Recent reports of increases in the number of incidences of serious pupil disruption and violence in schools were on everyone’s mind, as plans for the first phase of the […]
Local Disputes Continue
As lecturers across Scotland take national industrial action to secure fair pay and protect jobs, lecturers at two colleges are also engaged in local action to defend jobs. At City of Glasgow College, EIS-FELA members are continuing strike action in a dispute over cuts to teaching time, increases in workload, the ending of fixed term […]
Hutchesons’ Grammar Dispute Settled, Strike Action to Cease
Following four days of strike action at Hutchesons’ Grammar School, the dispute at the school is now settled on the basis of a 7-point agreement. The dispute began in January with the School’s proposal to withdraw teaching staff from the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme and has been resolved through more beneficial changes to other terms […]
EIS Calls on First Minister to Act on Under-Employment of Teachers Across Scotland
The EIS has written to First Minister Humza Yousaf calling for action on the lack of job security for many newly and recently qualified teachers across Scotland. In recent years, Scottish local authorities have increasingly appointed new teachers on short-term temporary contracts, offering little job security for new entrants to the teaching profession. In the […]
Teachers critical of Scottish Government for lack of progress in implementing manifesto commitment on class contact time reduction
The SNCT Teachers’ Panel, made up of trade unions representing Scotland’s teachers, has strongly criticised the Scottish Government for the severe lack of progress in delivering the SNP 2021 Manifesto commitment to reduce teachers’ class contact time by 90 minutes per week, to 21 hours. Two and a half years since the manifesto pledge was […]
Stand Up for Quality Education
The EIS announced the launch of the campaign Stand up for Quality Education at the Annual General Meeting in June. The aim of the campaign is to significantly improve teachers’ working conditions, and health, safety and wellbeing at work and by so doing, the quality of learning experiences for learners. Through branch meetings, surveys and […]
Safety from violence at work: the law, not a lottery
General Secretary Andrea Bradley spoke at this year’s meeting of the Trade Union Congress on a composite motion addressing safety in the workplace. In her speech, the General Secretary highlighted the Stand Up for Quality Education campaign, and its aim to improve teachers’ working lives by tackling the rising tide of indiscipline in schools. In […]
President Q&A Paula McEwan
Firstly, can you tell us a little about your teaching and trade union history? Apart from the first two years of my career when I worked on supply across Strathclyde Regional Council, I’ve worked in the same postcode in the south-west of Inverclyde for almost 30 years. It’s not the same building but it’s the […]
Channelling anger into activism – returning to work as a Long Covid activist
According to figures from 2023 by the Office of National Statistics, it is estimated that 3.5% of the Scottish population have self-reported Long Covid. This is an increase of 122% from 2021. In this article, EIS member and Long Covid activist Sheena AlAlami raises the importance of keeping the disabled employee at the heart of […]