By Steve Bargeton, political editor

HUNDREDS OF striking nursery nurses marched on the Scottish Parliament yesterday as MSPs debated their claim for a national pay settlement.

In a noisy but good natured protest, they sang and chanted throughout the morning as members went in and out of the chamber.

After question time, First Minister Jack McConnell went out to meet them and had a heated discussion with representatives. But his message was not what they wanted to hear.

During exchanges in the parliament, he made it clear that he supported them in their call for more money but said negotiations had to be made locally.

Nine local authorities, including Fife, have already reached settlements with nursery nurses.

“It would be entirely wrong for us as a Scottish Executive to seek at this stage to impose on nursery nurses or any other group or any group of local authorities an alternative method of determining pay settlements,” he said in answer to questions from Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie.

“That is what is at the core of this issue—that local authorities and the union representing nursery nurses need to negotiate a settlement here that is fair to the nursery nurses and is within their agreed procedures.”

The Scottish Socialists led a debate in parliament calling on MSPs to back the motion, “Parliament agrees that the nursery nurses have a just claim and that there should be a fair, nationally negotiated settlement to their current dispute.”

SSP MSP Carolyn Leckie said, “It’s an absolute disgrace that nursery nurses—after 16 years without a review, 10 months on intermittent strike action, and two weeks on all-out (strike)—still do not have a decent national pay for a highly skilled professional, national job.”

For the Executive, deputy education minister Euan Robson said, “I, like all members, want to see our early years workforce paid a fair salary at a level that is sustainable.

“This dispute has gone on too long and both sides need to get together to sort it out, and I again urge just that.”

The nursery nurses’ trade union, Unison, wants £9.53 an hour for those starting as nursery nurses, saying this would raise salaries from £10,000 to £14,000, as well as an hourly rate of £11.94 for those with eight years’ experience, to boost their salaries from about £13,800 to £18,000.

MSPs voted by 70 votes to 44 to back an Executive amendment to the SSP motion which made no mention of a nationally- negotiated settlement to the current dispute.