Scottish teachers strikes

[museumum]

How have other Scots found the teachers strikes?
I’m seeing a lot of stress from English parents I know on Fb as well as on mn but it seems to me in my bit of Scotland parents have said “fair dos” to the teachers and just got in with things/arrangements quietly.

I’m not sure this is necessarily good for the teachers cause….

interested to hear from other Scots around the country….?

Yes from the unions pint of view. But it would be at school level so nothing to do with the union if a primary school were notifying 6 classes at 8.45 that their teachers were working that day.

That might be what the unions want, but schools still have a responsibility towards pupils and they should carry out that responsibility to the highest extent possible. If teachers are working then they should be teaching pupils. The schools shouldn’t be adding to the disruption of the unions.

'The schools' means nothing. They are buildings. Everyone is in a union.

The only union that is relevant is the one that is striking that day and they are only relevant so far as the teachers are not in school. Secondary action is illegal. Everyone else is required to work to ensure that pupils are as unaffected by the strikes as possible.

No they're not.

I totally get that strikes are supposed to be attention grabbing and disruptive. The two day national strike next week will achieve that. Every school closed, it will be reported in the press and on TV, possibly across the UK.

But these last three days is only disruptive to a very small minority of us. Scottish government is not going to "back down" because some parents in Bearsden, Govanhill, Fife and Perthshire are a bit inconvenienced. Sturgeon is counting down the days till she's offski and doesn't have to bother about all this shite any more - she's not being "influenced" to bring the strike to an end. Greer couldn't influence his way out of a paper bag. So that leaves Swinney and your Summerville woman. So really, two people out of how many MSPs?

And as teachers are getting paid for this local action by the union, it's a lovely wee three days holiday for them. The picket is now finished at my local primary. An hour. Standing outside in the sunshine chatting with your colleagues, bring the dog along, all very cheery. Then fuck off home for the rest of the day to enjoy the nice springlike weather, on full pay.

And the unions wonder why parents are increasingly unsupportive of this??? Especially when they wouldn't even put an offer to the membership?

Yes - and please correct me if I'm wrong - but I am pretty sure that staff cannot be asked to cover for striking colleagues even if in a different union. So school (and it's pretty clear that the PP uses that word to refer to management, the council, the Scot Gov) cannot ask members of the SSTA or the Head Teachers union to cover classes for striking EIS members.

I was at school in the 80s the last time there were major strikes. In S5 and doing Highers. When the EIS was off, we would get a list of classes where the teachers were not EIS and would be in. So you'd be expected to go in for first two periods double English, then back in the afternoon for French or whatever. That is not happening. The SSTA teachers are also being paid to sit in their offices at schools doing admin or whatever as the kids aren't in. As are the admin staff, the jannies, the teaching assistants.

cannot ask members of the SSTA or the Head Teachers union to cover classes for striking EIS members.

Just googled and found this on the TES site:

Ms O’Malley says headteachers “can ask members of staff, including the senior leadership team, to cover for striking teachers, but much will depend on the nature of the request, whether it is a reasonable management instruction and the contractual status of the employee”.

“If staff members are covered by the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD), they cannot be compelled to cover for other teachers who are striking,” she explains.

All teachers directly employed by maintained schools in England are covered by the STPCD in their contracts.

I am guessing there is a similar contract clause in Scotland too. But it is contractual not legislative.

👏

That Google survey is doing the rounds. Parents are extremely pissed off, as they know the targeted strikes are grossly unfair and totally ineffectual.

Nurseries attached to schools will also not take children next week/ this week in affected areas.

100% this!

It's the kids who are being disadvantaged the most when it comes to strikes.

The SSTA seem to have accepted the deal and suspended the strike. Although the statement is quite vague as it reads that industrial action will start again if a better offer isn't received. But why would a better deal come if members have accepted?

It's a small union though so it won't make any difference to schools opening next week.

Another 2 days of strikes.

Kids off Wed, Thu, Fri last week.

In on Monday.

Back off Tue, Wed this week.

Complete nightmare and the sooner this comes to an end the better. Still struggling to believe that they rejected the last offer outright.

Sadly I don't think it's going to be resolved anytime soon. The EIS seem entrenched in their position. We're in a targeted school and an exam year. Am very disappointed how this is being handled.

School strike: Teachers in Scotland begin two-day strike action www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64790143

Time to get your violins out!

Entitlement embodied!

I suspect EIS don’t want to go to members, they prefer to take the power.

@Shelefttheweb completely agree. I know a few EIS members who say they would have accepted the deal.

That BBC link says 2 of the unions are prepared to accept the offer and 2 aren't.
What happens in this case, how can the pay offer be settled? Do all unions need to agree for it to be accepted?

They all sit on the same negotiating committee with various levels of representation. EIS as the biggest union has the most representation.

I know, I’m completely pissed off. I was bemused to see that the Union believe that public support is still really strong; it’s been eroded due to the use of targeted strikes where I live. I don’t know if people who live in other areas are still supportive or if we are all a bit ffs.

Ah thanks @Shelefttheweb
I wondered how that worked when it's one negotiating committee

SSTA have just announced more strikes in March unless a new pay offer is made.

I can't see anything @LoopyGremlin

Do you have a link please?

www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/ssta-scottish-government-improved-teacher-pay-offer

news.stv.tv/scotland/teachers-confirm-dates-and-schools-closed-by-20-days-of-rolling-strikes-across-scotland

Dates for March/April