Two councillors joined the picket line outside Perth Grammar School to show their support for teachers.
Councillors Alasdair Bailey and Brian Leishman ‘stood in solidarity’ with teachers who are campaigning for a pay rise from the Scottish Government.
Today is the first of three days of targeted strikes affecting schools in North Perthshire – the constituency area of Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
They will be closely followed by two days of national strikes next week, affecting schools across the country.
Cllr Bailey said: “There was great support from people passing, lots of people tooting as they made their way down to the hospital.
“The public are still saying they are very much behind the cause.
“It was good to hear staff members concerns. They want to be back in schools and teaching, especially with exams coming up, there is a real energy to get this resolved.
“No teacher wants to be standing outside in the cold not getting paid, instead of teaching.”
The Scottish Labour councillor said he was moved to join the picket line in the hope it would encourage the government to find a ‘fair’ resolution.
He added: “We want to stand in solidarity with teachers who deserve a pay rise – stand shoulder to shoulder with them to send a clear message to the employers.
“It’s gone on for a long time now and we’d like to see something arrived at so that teachers can get back to educating young people.”
‘No one deserves to get poorer’
Fellow Labour councillor Brian Leishman says he believes it is ‘vital’ that councillors support all workers who are seeing their wages suppressed.
“It’s vital because no one deserves to get poorer,” he added.
“It’s about being here to show solidarity with people that need support.
“We are proud to be on the picket line with our teachers today because we believe that education is about opportunity.
“The opportunity to give a way out of poverty, the opportunity to improve society and the opportunity to improve ourselves.
“Kids are suffering, not because of strikes but because of a broken SNP government that have had a decade and a half in charge of education and are allowing the attainment gap to get wider and wider.”
Attempts to resolve the dispute
Teachers were offered a 6% pay rise for this financial year, plus a 5.5% rise for next year, but unions refused reiterating their request for 10%.
Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “The government’s focus is on resolving the industrial dispute, delivering a fair and sustainable settlement for teachers and ending disruption to pupils, parents and carers.”
