Scottish teachers will “snap” if placed under any more pressure by education cuts, a union leader is warning today.
Outgoing EIS president Kay Barnett will tell delegates at the Perth conference that teachers’ patience is running out and schools should not have to take any more financial pain.
She will also warn the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) and the Scottish Government that they will face strong resistance if there are further attacks on working conditions.
EIS members voted narrowly in April to accept a pay and conditions deal that includes a two-year pay freeze, although other unions were opposed.
Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association general secretary Anne Ballinger implicitly criticised the outcome this week, saying it was a pity that not everyone had shown “the moral fibre or the backbone” of her members.
In her speech today, Ms Barnett says, “I know only too well that the recent conditions of service deal, reached after a consultative ballot of our members, has amounted to a cut in our pay and conditions in return for guarantees on jobs for Scottish teachers.
“I also know that the acceptance of such a difficult deal reflected the hard reality of a set of challenging circumstances relevant to an entire sector of public sector workers.
“But, having met and spoken with so many EIS colleagues across Scotland, I also know that those members who, through the democratic process, voted to accept the deal did so reluctantly, displaying the understanding, patience, flexibility, goodwill and cooperation that characterise the vast majority of the Scottish teaching profession who belong to our union, the EIS.”
Ms Barnett will also look towards the outcome of the McCormac Review into teacher employment.
She will say, “Embedded within the general threat to education provision is, undeniably, the ongoing attack on the conditions of service of Scottish teachers. But what do you expect when reacting to a document crafted by our employers that explicitly states in all seriousness that… ‘the primary role for a teacher should not be to teach children’?”
She will claim council employers are trying to claw back provisions of a past agreement on pay and conditions and are displaying “a basic lack of trust” in the profession.
Ms Barnett will warn, “But let me again be crystal clear, in the context of the McCormac Review, our employers across Scotland’s 32 local authorities and, indeed, the Scottish Government must face the fact that there might come a time when patience and understanding will run out and cooperation and goodwill will dry up.
“As for flexibility, well, Scottish teachers are like elastic bands used to holding things together but, if stretched too far, will eventually snap.”
Teacher numbers, workload and stress and implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence are also on the agenda for the Perth Concert Hall meeting.