Teachers across Tayside and Fife have been urged to consider carefully how they respond to a union ballot on proposed changes to pay and conditionsand the prospect of strike action.
‘Ideological decision’The letter also denies reports that talks between the unions, CoSLA and the government broke down, noting all parties reached agreement at the final negotiating meeting on February 24 and all sides had made concessions.
The letter also highlights an agreement that teacher numbers across Scotland will not fall below 51,131 at the census in Septembera guarantee on job numbers that no other part of the local government workforce has been offeredwith a sanction to be applied if councils fail to achieve this number.
“This guaranteed protection is not an empty promise,” it continues.
“If councils individually or collectively fail to deliver the local government side of the agreement, the changes asked of teachers could be reversed and a financial penalty applied.
“We are under no illusions that the changes proposed are easy to agree.
“However, we firmly believe that they represent the best possible deal that can be achieved.
“They mean that, even in the current financial climate, you have the opportunity to agree a deal which will protect teacher jobs, guarantee opportunities for new and future teachers, and protect the quality of education in the classroom.”
The EIS ballot is asking members two questions: if they support or reject the CoSLA proposals on teacher pay and conditions, and if they are prepared to take industrial action.
Branches across Scotland have recommended members reject the deal and an indicative “yes” on the possibility of striking.
At its annual meeting, EIS Fife president Martin Turnbull and secretary Cathy Grant reflected on a troubled year and urged members to reject the deal.
Mr Turnbull noted that little seems to have changed since he became a teacher in the 1980s, and added, “Teachers are still being used as scapegoats for many of the ills of society.
“I would like to report that, unlike the 1980s, young enthusiastic teachers were leaving college with good prospects for full-time permanent employment.
“Sadly, the job prospects for teachers now are even worse.”
On the proposed changes to terms and conditions, he noted the present government had “taken an ideological decision on how to balance the books.”
He called it “a double whammy” as teachers cope with the Curriculum for Excellence and associated changes to qualifications.
As revealed by The Courier this week, unions have started balloting members on the draft agreement on pay and conditions negotiated through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), with the unions also consulting on industrial action.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) has reacted with disappointment to the EIS recommendation to reject the deal and emphasised the benefits associated with it, as well as the possible consequences for the workforce of failing to reach agreement.
However, The Courier understands CoSLA has also taken unprecedented steps to ensure all teachers being balloted are made fully aware of the detail of the proposals so they can make informed decisions.
Councils across Scotland have been supplied with materials in a bid to help them get their message acrossthe first time CoSLA has undertaken to reach out to all staff in such a fashion.
The changes, which include a two-year pay freeze, a cut in sick pay and lower pay for those who stayed on promoted salaries when their posts were abolished 10 years ago, have provoked anger from unions which believe they will have a damaging effect on the teaching profession.
But CoSLA’s letter to the teaching workforce will suggest that accepting the proposals will protect education and jobs, and will ask teachers to consider if rejecting the deal is best for them and their school.
“It is well-known that, right across the country, public services are facing the harshest financial cuts in living memory,” it reads.
“These cuts put us all in an enormously difficult situation that is not of our making.
“We appreciate that many staff will be angry about the situation, just as councils are too.
“Nonetheless, we have an absolute responsibility to our communities to continue to provide the very best services possible despite considerably reduced resources.
“These issues are not exclusive to the teaching profession; right across the council, staff are being asked to take a share of the pain to help maintain services and protect as many jobs as possible.”
Union suggestions that changes can wait until after the McCormac Review this summer have been dismissed by CoSLA, which says more jobs could be lost and more services could be put at risk if the changes are delayed.