Teachers in Fife have voted to declare a formal dispute with the local authority over school safety.
The EIS said the local association was one of three in Scotland where members had voted overwhelmingly in favour of the move – the others are in Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire.
Scotland’s largest teaching union alleges that the council has failed to provide a safe working environment for staff in light of the continuing threat from the pandemic.
In Fife 90% of those who took part in the ballot – 53% of the union’s membership in the region – voted for the dispute.
🚸 This is the day to show how seriously we take health & safety and the duty of care 🆘
Ballot closes at 4pm TODAY
If you didn’t get a ballot, contact membership@eis.org.uk pic.twitter.com/pP5KJqckKo
— EISFife (@EISFife) December 15, 2020
The local association is to seek an urgent response from the council to member concerns.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “These votes are clear evidence of the anxieties teachers feel with regard to school Covid security.
“The First Minister today has cited rising infection levels in parts of the country and hinted that some areas may have to move back to level four – all the more likely if there is a post-Christmas spike in infection levels.
“We have seen schools in Wales move to remote learning as part of the effort to drive down infection levels and yet in Scotland there isn’t a single additional mitigation put in place for schools even at level four.
Teachers want to see schools open but not at all costs.”
Larry Flanagan, EIS general secretary
“Teachers want to see schools open but not at all costs.
“Both the Scottish Government and local authorities should be transparent in setting out the benchmarks which would trigger a move to remote or blended learning.”
The Fife association previously urged the local authority’s education service to close schools on Friday instead of next Tuesday, to allow teachers and pupils a few days to isolate before seeing family at Christmas.
The extra days, it said, would also have minimised the risk of senior staff being asked to help trace contacts of positive cases during the holidays.
An extended school closure was considered but ruled out by the Scottish Government.
What does Fife Council say?
Executive director of Fife Council education and children’s services, Carrie Lindsay, said: “The health and wellbeing of our workforce is extremely important.
“Throughout the pandemic response, the duty of care we have to the health, safety, and wellbeing of all our employees has been at the forefront of the approach we have taken.
“The wellbeing of staff is central to decisions that we have made in Fife.
It would always be our preference to seek to resolve matters through local discussion and unfortunately this dispute has not been approached in this manner.”
Carrie Lindsay, Fife Council
“As a local authority, we do not have the legal authority to close all schools or move all schools to remote learning in the current circumstances, according to our legal advice.
“If there is any change to national advice from either Scottish Government or Public Health Scotland, then, as always, we will take steps to make sure that we follow that guidance.
“We are understandably disappointed with this outcome as we are always available for discussion with our trades unions and pride ourselves with having positive working relationships with them.
“It would always be our preference to seek to resolve matters through local discussion and unfortunately this dispute has not been approached in this manner.”
Fife teachers to vote on entering dispute with council over Christmas break extension
