Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Strike threat as pay negotiations stall
Teachers and their union, the Education Institute of Scotland, rejected a ‘final’ pay offer of 3 per cent, arguing that only a 10 per cent rise will reverse a decade of wage stagnation
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AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
TEACHERS’ unions were dismayed that councils and the Scottish government failed to bring a new offer to pay negotiations this week.
The Education Institute of Scotland, the biggest education union north of the border, warned that strike ballots would be “inevitable” if a “substantially improved offer” is not made this month.
Last month teachers overwhelmingly rejected a “final” pay offer of 3 per cent. Unions, understandably, argue that a 10 per cent rise is needed to make up for a decade of wage stagnation.
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