Schools across Fife could be hit with more closures next month as some staff have voted in favour of strike action.
Staff working in schools and early years buildings voted in favour of more industrial action following a ballot of Unison union members.
The walk out in a dispute over pay and will take place on November 8.
The latest round of strikes affects Fife as well as Edinburgh, South Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway.
This latest strike comes just weeks after schools were forced to close for three days in September.
It is not yet known if schools will close this time.
Impact of Fife school strikes yet to be confirmed
The move comes after Unison members voted overwhelmingly to reject Cosla’s latest pay offer.
Mark Ferguson, Unison Scotland chairman of the local government committee, said: “No one takes the decision to strike lightly.
“I’m a parent myself, so I understand the disruption strikes cause.
“But if wages don’t rise, school staff will leave for other jobs beyond education that pay significantly more.
“That would be a disaster and would help no one.”
Fife councillor, Kathleen Leslie, education scrutiny committee convener, told The Courier she fears yet more possible strike days will impact heavily on children’s learning.
She said: “It’s a big worry that yet more school time could be lost so soon after three days of strike action recently.
“Not only is it time not in the classroom, it’s time away from their peers and the general disruption once more the school week.
“Through lockdown we adapted to remote learning and accessing school work from home.
“However, in Fife we still don’t have full inclusive connectivity so inevitably there are children that will miss out completely on education during any strike.
“I have empathy fighting for their livelihoods who feel industrial action is the only option left to them.
“But we can’t simply rumble on from month to month with the threat of even more school time potentially lost.
“Cosla, the Scottish Government and everyone involved have to take the situation more seriously to find a meaningful solution soon.
“If they don’t I fear more days lost will have a lasting detrimental effect on children’s education.”
Fife Council’s head of education and children’s services Shelagh McLean confirmed that the council is aware of ​​Unison’s plans for further industrial action.
“​​We will be assessing the potential impact this action could have in Fife ​and will work ​to minimise the effect of this locally,” she said.
“We cannot rule out closures of school buildings to pupils during any industrial action.
“Therefore, we will be in touch with parents and carers as soon as possible with more information.”
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