Perth and Kinross schools could close should teachers vote to go on strike.
This week Scotland’s largest teaching union the EIS confirmed it would be issuing a statutory strike ballot to its members on Wednesday, October 12.
Perth and Kinross Council has said it is “monitoring the situation” as teachers prepare to vote on whether or not to take strike action over pay.
Teachers in the EIS will have until November 8 to complete their ballots before it closes and the result will be declared.
The move comes following a recent consultative ballot where 91 per cent of the 78 per cent who responded said they were willing to take industrial action to try and achieve a fair pay.
All 32 of Scotland’s local authorities were this week issued with formal notices of the forthcoming strike ballot by the EIS.
It is not the first time schools have been a risk of closures in recent months due to planned industrial action.
Perth Academy and Fairview School were set to close over September 7-9 due to strikes from non-teaching staff in a separate pay row before it was cancelled after a deal was struck with COSLA.
Reacting to the news a spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council told the Perthshire Advertiser: “We are monitoring the situation and await the result of the ballot.”
In a statement released earlier this week EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: “The EIS is confident that its members will again vote overwhelmingly for strike action. Time is now running out for an agreement to be reached.
“COSLA and the Scottish Government must come back with a better pay deal which reflects the value of teachers and protects salaries from further real-terms erosion, to avert strike action that will close schools across the country.”
The Scottish Government and COSLA expressed disappointment over rejection of the five per cent offer.
A Government spokesperson said: “Strikes are in no one’s interest – least of all for pupils, parents and carers who have already faced significant disruption over the past three years.
“This government has a strong record of support for teachers and are proud to have the best paid workforce of anywhere in the UK. It is disappointing that unions have rejected the latest pay offer.
“We are committed to supporting a fair pay offer for teachers through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. It is for local authorities, as employer, to make a revised pay offer.”
A spokesperson for COSLA said: “Scottish local government values its entire workforce including teachers.
“The offer being made is one that not only can be afforded with the additional monies being provided, but critically enables councils to protect education services and those other services that support its effective running.
“We are disappointed that the teaching unions have rejected it. Accepting would have meant that teachers received a cumulative pay increase of 21.8 per cent since 2018.
“For example, a teacher on point five of the main grade scale would have seen their annual salary increase from £36,480 at the start of 2018 to £44,454 from April 1, 2022.”
