Teaching union agrees to postpone strike action

A teaching union has agreed to defer strike action due to be held next week.

Members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) “marginally” voted to accept a new pay offer from the Scottish Government.

However it was rejected by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers.

The SSTA said it would hold off on industrial action following the consultation with its members, but it still expected of an improved offer in the coming days.

Industrial action was due to take place action on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

But the consultation with SSTA members showed a small majority would vote in favour of the Scottish government’s new pay deal.

Under plans announced by Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville last week, teachers earning up to £80,000 would see their pay rise by 6% from April 2022, and then another 5.5% from the start of the 2023 financial year.

Although the SSTA consultation showed members would vote in favour of the pay offer, it was rejected by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers – which includes the Scottish government, local authority body Cosla and other teaching unions.

The SSTA said it would reinstate industrial action should an improved pay offer not be forthcoming.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “I welcome these results and the SSTA decision to postpone the planned strike action next week.

“We are absolutely determined to do all we can to resolve this dispute and end this worry for children, young people, parents, carers, and teachers, too, who, I know, want to be back in the classroom.”

It comes after members of the EIS teaching union concluded three days of targeted strike action in the Scottish Parliament constituencies of Ms Somerville in Dunfermline, Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow, John Swinney in Perthshire, and Ross Greer in East Dunbartonshire.

They will participate in another round of targeted action from 7 to 9 March.

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