by Niall Christie

Scotland editor

SCOTLAND’S largest teaching union condemned a pay offer as “completely inadequate” today, adding that it “fails to recognise the value of teachers.”

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) expressed frustration at the slow pace of negotiations on its pay claim, saying that the discussions have made no progress in recent months. 

Employers are sticking to their offer of an average of just over 1 per cent, the union said, adding that it cannot be accepted as it would mean different pay settlements for teachers according to the grade of their post. 

The EIS argued that the proposal represents a real-terms pay cut, despite teachers’ hard work to keep schools functioning throughout the coronavirus pandemic. 

EIS salaries convener Des Morris said: “This sub-inflation level pay offer would result in an effective pay cut for Scotland’s teachers — hardly an appropriate recognition of the important role that teachers have played throughout the pandemic and the vital role they will play in the national recovery from Covid-19. 

“Our NHS colleagues are absolutely deserving of a fair pay settlement that properly recognises the vital work that they do, but Scotland’s teachers — and, indeed, other public-sector workers — also deserve to have their vital contributions properly recognised.”

The announcement coincided with the Scottish Greens unveiling plans to recruit an additional 5,500 teachers to help schools recover from the Covid crisis. 

The party explained that its manifesto pledge to increase the workforce by 10 per cent would help reduce class sizes and teacher workload, which unions say have become unmanageable in recent years.