Thousands of schools to close in coming weeks forcing pupils to stay at home
SCHOOLS will be forced to shut again with non-teaching staff set to hold a fresh wave of strikes after rejecting a last minute pay offer.
A total of nine in 10 Unison members voted to reject the latest pay offer from local government umbrella body Cosla in a consultative ballot.
Thousands of schools across the country will be forced to shut again in the coming weeks, with pupils forced to stay at home.
It comes after strike action last month disrupted schools for three days across 24 local authorities.
Unison – the only union to strike last month – said the blame for school closures “must be laid squarely at the door of Cosla and Scottish ministers”.
But local authority bosses said the result was “disappointing given the strength of the offer on the table”.
Both the GMB and Unite unions called off their own strike action last month after a last minute offer was made – with both balloting their staff.
Support staff such as janitors, canteen workers, classroom assistants and cleaners will take part in the walk out.
The union said a rolling programme of strikes in schools and nurseries will take place in the coming weeks, with dates announced within days.
The pay offer represents a minimum wage increase of £2,006 for those on the Scottish Government’s living wage and a minimum increase of £1,929 for workers who are earning above the living wage.
The living wage of £10.85 will rise to £11.89 under the new offer, equivalent to a 9.6 per cent increase.
The pay offer is estimated to cost roughly £580 million.
Unison yesterday said that 89.92 per cent of members voted against the offer in a consultative ballot.
Unison’s Scottish secretary Lilian Macer said: “No-one takes industrial action lightly. It’s a very difficult decision for anyone, but as much as this is about pay, it’s also about standing up for local services.
“The school staff taking part in strike action support children in school every day of the year, and many are parents with school-age children too.
“Workers are taking action because they want children to be educated in well-resourced, well-staffed schools. They want to start trying to reverse years of cuts and underinvestment in the workforce and services.
“No-one wants to cause disruption for pupils and parents, but school staff have been left with no other option.
“The blame must be laid squarely at the door of Cosla and Scottish ministers. They have it within their gift to end the strike, but they are showing no sign of wanting to do so. That’s a terrible shame for everyone affected.”
Unison members held a three day striked from September 26 to 28, with bosses saying 21,000 of its members in 1,868 schools walked out.
This left thousands of pupils unable to attend school – with further days out of the classroom now expected.
Councillor Katie Hagman, COSLA’s resources spokesperson said: “Obviously this ballot result from Unison is very disappointing given the strength of the offer on the table.”
Ms Hagman said that council chiefs had “listened to our trade unions” and worked with SNP ministers to put “an incredibly strong half a billion pound pay package on the table”.
And she urged the other unions – GMB and Unite – to accept the deal.
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