The first meeting of EIS Council for the new session had a slightly unusual feel, in light of the conclusion of the long-running pay dispute in the college sector and the recent settlement of the pay claim for teachers and associated professionals. As a result, for the first time in many months, the issue of pay was not towards the top of the Council agenda.

Executive Committee

Prior to the formal report of Executive, President Allan Crosbie told Council of the imminent launch of the revised EIS publication Education for Peace.

While the formal launch will take place later this year, the fact that Council was held the day before the UN International Day of Peace meant that it was an appropriate time to announce the new publication.

“The context in which we currently find ourselves could not make it more important that we recommit to the promotion of peace.

“We are all horrified by the current situation in the middle east, and by the recent politically motivated violence that has arisen across our own country. I commend this booklet to you,” said Mr Crosbie.

Vice-President Adam Sutcliffe then delivered the report of the Executive Committee, and opened by lauding EIS-FELA and its members for securing a satisfactory end to their long-running pay dispute, “By pressuring the Scottish Government, and using its own Fair Work commitments against it, EIS-FELA successfully achieved an acceptable pay offer for its members, reversed the threat of deeming and ensured that members who had been deemed will be repaid,” he said.

Mr Sutcliffe said that the SU4QE campaign was a major focus of the most recent Executive. “This is a complex and wide-ranging campaign, and the programme of work continues to evolve to address each of the key elements of the campaign”, he said.

The Vice-President also lauded the good news that strong trade union campaigning had prevented the planned closure of the Glasgow Trade Union Education Centre. “We have secured an agreement that the centre will stay open for a year, but we need to ensure that it stays open permanently.

“And to do that, we need to fill it by encouraging our members and other trade unionists to sign up to the wide range of courses that the Centre offers,” said Mr Sutcliffe.

Mr Sutcliffe highlighted the ongoing statutory industrial action ballot in Glasgow over the council’s planned cuts to education provision and teaching posts. Glasgow EIS is continuing to work very closely with parents in the city to oppose the Council’s education cuts.

The industrial action ballot was set to close shortly after this edition of the SEJ went to print – see www.eis.org.uk for the latest updates on the dispute.

Education Committee

Convener Susan Quinn presented the report of the Committee to Council, and highlighted a range of important issues.

On Education Reform, Ms Quinn said that the EIS had, “Welcomed some elements of the Cabinet Secretary’s recent statement on Education Reform, even though the statement fell far short of what we may have wanted.

“There is a clear need for less reliance on exams, and this largely remains the case even after this announcement. The long-awaited statement, which took more than 400 days to arrive, doesn’t go far enough to deliver the best outcomes for our members and for young people in Scotland.

“We were very encouraged that they remain committed to the move to 21 hours of class contact time – but we now need to see it delivered, and funded, by the Scottish Government and local authorities.”

On ongoing work around physical intervention in schools, Ms Quinn said, “We continue to raise our concerns about how this process might progress. The parental voice is clearly very important on this issue, but there is a danger that the views and experience of a very small number of people might skew the results of the process. Our members also need to be heard loud and clear on these issues.”

Employment Relations Committee

Highlighting the continuing upsurge in applications for assistance to the EIS benevolent fund, Convener Susan Slater said, “I would ask any local associations or self governing associations that have not yet donated to the benevolent fund, to please consider doing so.

“It is getting harder and harder every year to meet the increasing demands being placed upon the fund.”

Ms Slater pointed to a four-fold increase in payments from the benevolent fund over the past four years, with the majority of payments related to members’ ill-health.

Equality Committee

Convener Nicola Fisher advised Council that the launch of the EIS’s refreshed Face up to Child Poverty guidance booklet would take place on the 1st of October, shortly after this edition of the SEJ went to print.

Ms Fisher indicated that Equality Committee members, PACTivisits, local association secretaries, young members, and anti-poverty organisations were being invited to the launch event.

Ms Fisher also highlighted that Challenge Poverty Week would take place from 7th to 13th of October, and would have daily themes of housing; transport; adequate incomes; food; communities and volunteers; and reflection.

The committee had noted that the EIS would work with the Poverty Alliance to align some of our activity, including taking part in a breakfast briefing, focusing on the expansion of free school meals to coincide with the ‘food’ theme, said Ms Fisher.

Salaries Committee

Convener Des Morris reported on the events leading up to the agreement on this year’s pay claim. The EIS ballot on the final 4.27% pay offer closed on 11 September. On a 65% turnout, 95% of members voted to accept the offer.

The Teachers’ Panel met on 12 September and unanimously agreed to accept the offer. This was formally communicated to COSLA and Scottish Government representatives at a meeting of Extended Joint Chairs the same day. Teachers’ Side representatives requested that employers process the uplift as soon as possible.

On the time taken for the final offer to be made, Mr Morris said, “The teachers’ side highlighted that, at the first opportunity, the new settlement date of August 1st had been missed. It was made clear to employers and the Scottish Government that this was unacceptable, and that the teachers’ side did not expect to see this repeated in the future – given that the change of implementation date was intended to provide more time and space for settlements to be delivered on time.”

On a troublesome issue remaining from the previous pay settlement, Mr Morris told Council that, following the continued refusal of 16 local authorities to reclassify backpay paid in 2023/24 but to which members became entitled in 2022/23, the Salaries Committee had agreed that further legal advice would be sought and that council leaders would be written to outlining the union’s concerns and stressing the need for councils to take action to remedy the situation.