Striking teachers join picket lines and Elgin Town Hall rally calling pay offer “absolutely scandalous”
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MORAY schools stayed shut today (November 24) as teachers took to the picket lines for the first teaching strike since the 1980s.
Manning pickets outside schools and attending a rally at Elgin Town Hall, union members shared their fury over the Scottish Government and COSLA’s latest pay offer.
The action is part of a national strike by the Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) and the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS) over the pay deal.
Members at the rally heard from EIS local area secretary Susan Slater, Seafield Primary School depute head Angela Stuart and Unison’s Moray branch secretary Karen Donaldson.
In her speech, Mrs Slater called the latest pay offer “absolutely scandalous”.
She said: “What was presented on Tuesday from COSLA and the Scottish Government was absolutely scandalous.”
Mrs Slater said teachers did not want to inconvenience pupils and parents, but circumstances left them no other option.
She said:”Our members are angry – we are very angry.
“We don’t like causing disruption.
“We are here to educate children and do the best for children.
“It has been quite uplifting to have the public support that we have had today.”
The sacrifice teaching staff made during the pandemic was also held up as a reason for a better pay deal.
Mrs Slater said: “The profession stepped up during the pandemic, we kept hubs open for the children of essential workers, we were teaching online, we were doing our best to provide an education to children during lockdown, we were working in conditions which were less that ideal when schools did reopen.
“The reality is that we have had enough.”
Deputy head teacher at Seafield Primary Alison Stuart said financial pressures on teachers were causing them to choose between heating and eating.
Addressing the rally, she said: "We are not asking for massive sums of money, like the salaries of the big bankers, we are asking for 10 per cent.
"They dawdle and delay, leaving us hanging on for an unacceptable offer.
"Some teachers have to access food banks to feed their families, struggle to pay mortgages and rents, must choose between putting the heating on and cooking a meal."
Ms Stuart said the strike, the first in a generation, was a strong signal of how teaching staff feel.
She said: "This is yet another very clear message to our employers at local authorities and to the Scottish Government that they must do better on teachers' pay.
"I hope they are listening now.
"We say enough is enough.
"Striking is always a last resort but we need a deal and we need it now.
"COSLA and the Scottish Government really must pay attention to Scotland's teachers and they must come back with a greatly improved pay offer if striking in January is to be avoided. Solidarity."
Unison, the union for public sector workers, is also supporting strike action by teachers.
Moray Unison branch secretary Karen Donaldson said it was "absolutely shocking" that teachers should have to strike for better pay after their actions during the Covid pandemic.
She said: "Many of you and your colleagues were on the front lines during the Covid pandemic and you are now having to go on strike to get a decent pay offer.
"That is absolutely shocking.
"Unless we act, nothing will change.
"We must stand up and make our voices heard."
