Scotland's largest teaching union announces 16 new strike dates

Scotland’s largest teaching union announces 16 new strike dates

Scotland’s largest teaching union has announced 16 new strike dates in a dispute over pay.

The strikes will see strike action on “sixteen consecutive days in January and February”, with teachers in “two local authorities on strike on each of these sixteen days,” Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) general secretary Andrea Bradley said.

It means on any one day, small parts of Scotland will be affected – but across the 16 days much of the nation will be impacted.

The EIS, which represents 80% of Scottish teachers, said national strike action took place for teachers for the first time in four decades yesterday, leading to the closure of every state school on the Scottish mainland.

Scottish teachers are calling for a 10% pay rise – which Scottish authorities say they cannot afford – and better working conditions.

Ms Bradley said: “We have been forced into the escalation of this action by the lack of willingness to negotiate properly and to pay teachers properly, by a government that says it wished to be judged on its record on education.

“The judgement of Scotland’s teachers on the matter of pay is clear, with the first programme of national strike action that we have engaged in for four decades.”

Several industries are planning strikes across the UK this year, from transport to the NHS and education to delivery drivers.

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