An Improved Pay Offer BUT STILL Not Enough
The SNCT Extended Joint Chairs (COSLA, Scottish Government, SSTA and EIS) met on 18 August and COSLA made a pay offer of 3.5%. The Teachers’ Side (SSTA and EIS) made clear that this offer was totally unacceptable and must be improved. COSLA then made a further offer of 5% the following day.
The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee met on 24 August to consider the 5% pay offer and took the view to accept the latest offer would equate to a pay cut with inflation running beyond 10%. The Committee decided to ask SSTA school representatives to conduct an opinion survey of members to gauge their response to the 5% pay offer.
Paul Cochrane SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Convenor said
“COSLA demonstrated how much they value teachers in by offering 3.5% when 5% funding was available.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers supported the vulnerable, upskilled themselves at their own cost and offered on site, off site and hybrid learning experiences for young people living through the trauma of a mass infection event. The mental and physical health of many teachers was damaged – some long term and some permanently.
Teachers have earned the respect of their communities. What they don’t seem to have earned is the respect of their employers. Teachers deserve fair pay. 5% is not enough”.
The SSTA together with sister teacher unions are now preparing a consultative ballot on the pay offer and the willingness of members to participate in industrial action in September.
The View of Members – Opinion Survey
In preparation for the next stage of the SSTA campaign the Committee has agreed to conduct an opinion survey of members on the employers 5% pay offer from April 2022
The Committee is recommending that school representatives hold a meeting of members in schools to discuss the proposal and report the views of members back to SSTA Head Office.
School Representatives will receive an e-mail invitation for the survey by Tuesday 30 August. If you do not receive this invitation, please contact the SSTA Office at info@ssta.org.uk
This opinion survey is to be conducted through SSTA School Representatives. The opinion survey will close on Tuesday 13 September.
Should your school not have a School Representative members should elect a rep and inform the SSTA Office. Information on the duties of a School Representative can be found here
Members Details
We are reaching the final stage of negotiation and we need to be ready to conduct a formal ballot of members. It is essential that we have accurate postal addresses and preferred email addresses to ensure members views are recorded. Members can notify us of any changes to their details by completing a form at www.ssta.org.uk/updatedetails.
If you have submitted an update of details in the past few days which is not reflected above, there is no need to resubmit these details.