Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association

Category: Information for Members

SNCT Extended Joint Chairs and Teacher Workload
SNCT Extended Joint Chairs – 4 March 2019

The SNCT Extended Joint Chairs (SSTA, EIS, Government and COSLA) meeting took place on Monday 4 March.

At the meeting the employers made no improvement to the current offer that the Teachers’ Panel had rejected on the 26 February. There was a brief discussion on workload related initiatives but teachers’ side negotiators made clear that this would be secondary in a settlement without an improvement to the pay element of the offer.

The teachers’ side highlighted its willingness to participate in negotiations towards a settlement of the 2018-2019 pay claim and would be keen to meet again before the end of the week. Should an improved pay offer be made a meeting of the Extended Joint Chairs would take place. (Unfortunately, without an offer by the end of this week EIS will begin its statutory ballot for strike action on Monday 11 March).

Teacher Workload

The SSTA is preparing to issue further guidance on teacher workload in the coming weeks. However, it is important to remind members of the existing contractual position of a 35 hour working week.

The following are core duties and must not be used for other activities:
- Teaching of assigned classes and cover for absent colleagues up to a maximum of 22.5 hours per week
- An allocation of 7.5 hours for preparation for assigned classes and correction of the work of assigned classes. This time should be ring-fenced as an essential part of a teacher’s work and not available for allocation to other tasks.
- The remaining 5 hours a week is Collegiate time.
The allocation of these hours is determined by the each School’s Working Time Agreement (WTA) that is binding on all signatories and must be honoured. All changes must be negotiated with the recognised trade union representatives. If a member is asked to undertake any additional duty, not included in the above, the deciding factor is the 35 hour working week. If the requested work would cause you to exceed the 35 hour week then you should agree a priority for the duties with your line manager. Further information can be found here.

Members should not be asked to exceed the 35 hour working week. Members are contractually entitled to refuse additional work and say NO.

Voluntary activities – If you are involved in a club or activity on an entirely voluntary basis and wish to continue that is your decision. This time is not included within the 35 hour working week.
04/03/2019
SNCT Extended Joint Chairs – 26 February 2019

The SNCT Extended Joint Chairs (SSTA, EIS, Government and COSLA) meeting took place on Tuesday 26 February. The SNCT Teachers’ Side formally rejected the revised pay offer of 25 January.

The Teachers’ Side highlighted its willingness to participate in negotiations towards a settlement of the 2018-2019 pay claim. Both COSLA and Scottish Government were positive in response to this and expressed their commitment to a negotiated settlement. The Government was also keen to include teacher workload and other issues as part of a pay settlement.

COSLA and the Government are considering their positions and sought a further meeting of the Extended Joint Chairs. This has been arranged for Monday 4 March.

27/02/2019
2018 Pay Claim – What Next?
I would like to thank all members for their efforts in making a tremendous 76% return in the consultative ballot. The 64% vote to accept has indicated the direction for the Association. It was clear from the comments made by members in the ballot that there was a reluctance to accept and that morale in schools is very low. The issues of teacher workload, pupil behaviour and lack of support were highlighted throughout the ballot process. The SSTA will be ensuring as part of any pay agreement that these issues must be addressed. A failure to make a real difference in these areas will only see more teachers leaving the profession.

The next steps in the pay negotiation process are:
1. The SNCT Teachers’ Side will meet on Monday 25 February to agree a formal response to the pay offer. The union positions are:
- SSTA – conducted a members ballot and has voted to accept
- EIS – conducted a members ballot and has voted to reject
- Voice – Did not consult members but are prepared to accept
- AHDS (primary heads) – conducted a members ballot and has voted to accept
- NASUWT – no indication of what actions they have taken on the pay offer
- SLS (secondary heads) – is not allowed to consult its members as it is not a union (is only an observer at the meeting)
1. The likely outcome is that SNCT Teachers’ Side will formally reject the pay offer (the EIS hold the majority when it comes to the vote). This will become the SNCT Teachers’ Side position. As a member of the SNCT Teachers’ Side the SSTA will accept the outcome of the vote and be seeking further negotiation in an attempt to resolve the dispute. This will include seeking action on teacher workload and pupil behaviour.
2. The SNCT Teachers’ Side rejection will be taken to the SNCT Extended Joint Chairs (SSTA, EIS, Government and COSLA) on Tuesday 26 February. This would be the opportunity for the Government (should they chose to take it) to try and negotiate a settlement. It is fair to say the Government is keen to resolve the dispute and avoid industrial action.
3. The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee are awaiting developments and will be preparing guidance for members.
4. The SSTA National Executive (Friday 1 March) and Council (Saturday 2 March) will be meeting next week to consider the situation and any further action.
It will be our intention to keep members updated on developments.

Thanks again for all your efforts in taking part in the members surveys and ballots during this difficult time.

Seamus Searson

General Secretary
22/02/2019
SSTA VOTES TO ACCEPT PAY OFFER

The SSTA conducted a Consultative Ballot of its members on the latest pay offer from COSLA. The ballot closed at noon today with 76% of SSTA members making a response. The latest pay offer was a 3% increase from April 2018 with a further 3% from January 2019. This would be followed by a 3% increase in April 2019 and April 2020.

64% of SSTA members voted to accept the latest teacher pay offer with more than a third of members prepared to take strike action to seek an improved offer.

Seamus Searson SSTA General Secretary said “The Government must not see this decision as a boost to teacher morale as many members were voting to get a pay rise that has been long overdue. Members are equally unhappy with a 3 year deal and are insisting on a reopener clause for 2020 so that teachers’ salaries are not allowed to deteriorate. Members are demanding urgent efforts to address teacher workload and support in dealing with pupil behaviour”.

“The SSTA welcomes the measures to improve salaries for those entering the profession but has real a concern that this offer is going to do little to encourage teachers to remain in the profession. The Government must accept there is much more to be done in the battle of teacher retention. The large number of teachers who were prepared to take strike action to improve teachers’ pay shows the level of frustration and must not be ignored”.

Kevin Campbell, SSTA President said “I would like to thank all members for taking part in the ballot. A 76% return is a tremendous achievement. Looking at the responses from members it is clear there is a great reluctance amongst members to accept the offer but many teachers are desperate for a pay rise. Despite this pay offer there is still a great deal of teacher unhappiness in our schools. We need to move quickly in tackling teacher workload and reinvesting in measures to tackle the increasing problem of pupil behaviour”.

Members were invited to make comment on the offer and a small sample has been included below.

“On paper the offer looks good but our working conditions/expectations have caused many to become very stressed and workloads have increased massively without any significant monetary reward for many years, and the hours which many of us are putting in every week is horrific”.

“Whatever the outcome of the ballot it is imperative that negotiations continue regarding workload and teacher retention. There is a lot of focus on attracting teachers to the profession, but for me the bigger issue is in retaining the excellent practitioners who already do a fantastic job”.

“I’m reluctant to accept but I don’t see how we will get anything better at this point”.

“It’s ridiculous that we have had to fight for this for so long. It’s not a great deal but I think it’s the best we will get without losing public support”.

“This is not about the salary. What I actually want this all to be focused on is pupil behaviour and conditions in teaching. I am in my 10th year of teaching, and behaviour in schools has degraded so much in the last few years that we are no longer a teaching profession, but instead becoming a babysitting service for pupils”.

“I don’t believe the offer addresses the recruitment and retention crisis, I have no confidence in management’s intent to deal with workload issues”,

“I believe that this offer is well below what is acceptable. The headline of 9% is for 2 years not one and is misleading”.

“I genuinely feel extremely torn by the offer. I am very worried about the impact of Brexit & accepting the pay deal for a year when we have no clue what state of play the economy will be in if & when Brexit goes through! In addition to this I am still extremely concerned about the workload issues that teachers face & the fact that there has been very little done to address this”.

“The (new) three Rs’: Retention; Recruitment; Respect”

(Ends)

21/02/2019
Message to Members -7 February 2018

2018 Pay Consultative Ballot

The 2018 Pay Consultative Ballot on the revised pay offer closes at noon on Thursday 21 February.

We have had a tremendous response from members with more than 55% of members taking part in the ballot. I would like to thank all the members who have responded so far and encourage those who have not had the opportunity to do so sooner rather than later. If you have not received an invitation please contact SSTA Headquarters at info@ssta.org.uk or by calling 0131 313 7300.

Please note: Only members employed by local authorities are eligible to vote.

Workload and ASN

The Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee would like to thank all school representatives who arranged meetings and replied to the consultative survey (a 58% return) in such a short time scale. The information was extremely useful and highlighted the major concerns over teacher workload and lack of ASN support in dealing with pupils who are finding school life challenging. The committee is preparing to move swiftly on these issues and will be working with other unions to bring about a major change in both the lives of teachers and pupils.

The SSTA has made it clear that in the event of any pay settlement there must be specific clauses to address teacher workload and ASN provision.

SSTA Vice President Election 2019-2021

The Vice-President election closed on 31 January and was conducted by the Electoral Reform Services.
The postal ballot result with a 16.1% turnout is:

Catherine Nicol (North Ayrshire) 659
Stuart Hunter (West Lothian) 397

Catherine Nicol is duly elected as SSTA Vice President.

University College London – opportunities for students

We have been contacted by University College London (UCL) who is keen to widen participation at UCL, and in particularly for Scottish students. UCL organise residential summer schools which would make it accessible for Scottish students. On the residential summer schools, students receive a week long course in the subject of their choosing from leading academics and get specialised presentations on the UCAS application process. All of this is completely free for students, including evening activities and accommodation. In addition, UCL pays for their travel to and from London.

It would be a great opportunity for students in S5 who may never have considered travelling all the way to London. There’s more information on the residential summer schools here:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/widening-participation/learners/year-12-and-13/residential-summer-schools.

SSTA Essentials Travel Cover

SSTA Essentials has been arranged for SSTA by Philip Williams & Company and includes Worldwide Travel Insurance starting from as little as £96.

SSTA Essentials Travel Cover includes Annual Worldwide Travel Insurance, covering family members for trips up to 31 continuous days duration as standard. There may be any number of trips broken by a return to the UK in any one year. Annual Winter sports cover is included up to 17 days in any year.

You can buy our low cost Worldwide Annual Travel Insurance on it’s own, or add Home Emergency and Motor Breakdown to your travel policy for the combined Essentials package.

Further information can be found at www.sstatravelinsurance.com

07/02/2019
Consultative Ballot on Revised 2018 Pay Offer is Now Open
The Consultative Ballot on the Revised 2018 Pay Offer is now open. The Consultative Ballot is open until 12 noon on Thursday 21 February. Please note: only members employed by a local authority will be invited to participate in the consultative ballot.

We strongly encourage all eligible members to cast their vote in the consultative ballot.

Emails inviting members to take part in the consultative ballot were sent to members preferred email addresses at 8am this morning from the SurveyMonkey website. If you have not seen the email, please check the junk/spam folder in your email account. The subject line of the email is “Consultative Ballot on Revised 2018 Pay Offer”.

If you have checked the junk/spam folder of your email account and you have not received the email, please contact SSTA HQ at info@ssta.org.uk.

Letters with instructions on how to take part in the consultative ballot are being sent to members we do not hold email addresses for.

Consultative Ballot – Revised 2018 Pay Offer

The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee is conducting a Consultative Ballot of members on the revised pay offer. The Consultative Ballot will commence on Thursday 31 January and will close at noon on Thursday 21 February. Please note: only members employed by a local authority will be invited to participate in the consultative ballot.

The detailed Revised 2018 Formal Pay Offer was issued to members by email on Tuesday 29 January.

The Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee evaluated the opinion survey conducted by school representatives and is confident that members have a clear understanding of the situation. The committee is asking members to consider carefully the revised pay offer and indicate their view. In the consultative ballot:
- members will be asked their local authority, current post and position on pay scale
- members will be asked whether they accept or reject the terms of the revised pay offer.
- an additional question only for those members who reject the offer whether they are prepared to take strike action to get an improved offer?
In the event of a rejection of the pay offer in the consultative ballot the Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee will move to a formal Ballot for Strike Action should the thresholds of the UK Government’s Trade Union Act be met.
31/01/2019
SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee – 28 January 2019
The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee met on 28 January to consider developments in the 2018 Pay Negotiations. The SNCT Extended Joint Chairs (SSTA, EIS, COSLA and Government) met on Monday 28 January and COSLA (the employers) tabled an offer in line with the Deputy First Minister letter of 10 January 2019.

The Pay Offer is in two parts:

Part One
- 2018/19 – 3% pay increase for all SNCT grades will apply, up to a cap of £80,000. At or above this figure a flat rate increase of £1,600 will apply. This award will be back dated to 1 April 2018.
- 2019/20 – 3% increase will apply uniformly across all SNCT posts governed by the terms and conditions of the SNCT (no cap).
- 2020/21 – 3% pay increase will apply across all SNCT posts governed by the terms and conditions of the SNCT (no cap).
Part Two
- restructure the Teachers Main Grade Scale to remove scale point one and add 3% to each of the remaining scale points from 1 January 2019. These changes will also mean a higher starting salary and faster progression for those coming into the profession.
- to revalue the salary scales for promoted posts and associated professionals will add 3% from 1 January 2019 to all relevant pay points.
The COSLA pay offer letter and associated pay scales are included for your information.

Additional Information for Members
- union side is insisting upon a re-opener clause as a requirement in any multi-year deal due to uncertainties (such as Brexit and increases in the retail price index).
- the pay offer does not include any changes to conditions of service
- the union side is insisting, as a part of any deal, a major commitment from Government and COSLA to address excessive teacher workload and the challenges in supporting pupils with additional support needs.
Consultative Ballot

The Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee was committed to a Consultative Ballot of members should a new offer be forthcoming. As the new offer has now been submitted the Consultative Ballot will commence on Thursday 31 January and will close at noon on Thursday 21 February. Please note only members employed by local authorities will be invited to participate in the consultative ballot.

In the event of a rejection of the pay offer the Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee will move to a formal Ballot for Strike Action should the thresholds of the UK Government’s Trade Union Act be met.
29/01/2019
2018 Pay Update – 28 January 2019

The SNCT Extended Joint Chairs met earlier today (Monday 28 January) where COSLA submitted a revised pay offer to the Teachers’ Side. The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee will meet this afternoon to consider the offer.

An email will be sent to members on Tuesday 29 January with details of the offer and the next steps to be taken.

28/01/2019
SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee – 14 January 2019

The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee met on 14 January to consider developments in the 2018 Pay Negotiations.

1) COSLA Offer – 7 January

The Committee firmly rejected the COSLA offer (3% in April 2018 plus a further 2% in August). This offer also included a 3% increase in April 2019 and a 3% increase in April 2020. The Committee appreciated that this offer removed the divisive intent in previous offers but did not meet the aspirations of members. Should this be the only offer on the table from COSLA the Committee recommended that SSTA move to a statutory ballot for industrial action.

2) Deputy First Minister’s Letter – 10 January

The Committee then considered the Deputy First Minister’s (DFM) letter. This letter sets out the willingness of Scottish Government to improve the 7 January offer by restructuring the 2% originally being offered in August 2018 to a new figure of 3%, payable in January 2019. (Draft Salary Scales based on the DFM’s letter can be downloaded here)

At the moment the DFM’s letter is not an offer. Only COSLA, as our employers, can legally make an offer and COSLA has said it cannot consider making an offer until its Leaders meeting planned for 25 January. The Committee is concerned that COSLA has been a major stumbling block throughout the negotiations if it were keen to resolve this dispute they should be able to table a new offer quickly.

The Committee agreed should a new offer be forthcoming SSTA would conduct a Consultative Ballot of members.

3) 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 proposal contained within the Deputy First Minister’s letter.

This opinion survey is to be conducted through SSTA School Representatives. 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. The opinion survey will be sent to the school representatives on Wednesday 16 January.

School Representatives will receive an e-mail invitation for the survey on Wednesday morning. If you do not receive this invitation please contact the SSTA Office.

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

15/01/2019
2018 Pay Update – 14 January 2019

2018 PAY UPDATE – 14 January 2019

COSLA Offer – 7 January
COSLA (the employers) tabled an offer on 7 January. No further improvements were presented. For those on the main-grade scale the offer essentially remains the same as the one previously rejected in the consultative ballot (3% plus a further 2% in August), with the addition of 3% for Year 2 (2019/20) and 3% for Year 3(2020/21).

SNCT Teachers’ Side – 8 January
The SNCT Teachers’ Side (SSTA, EIS, NASUWT, Voice, ADHS and SLS) met on 8 January and rejected the COSLA offer and also recorded a “failure to agree”. In an attempt to agree a settlement, the Teachers’ Side confirmed its willingness to meet again, as and when required should any improved offer from COSLA / Scottish Government be forthcoming.

Deputy First Minister’s Letter – 10 January
The DFM issued a letter late on 10 January. The DFM sets out the willingness of Scottish Government to improve the 7th January offer by restructuring the 2% originally being offered in August 2018 to a new figure of 3%, payable in January, 2019.

The net impact of this change is that over a 2-year period the offer would be worth a 9.25% increase compared to March 2018 [3% April 2018 (backdated) + 3% January 2019 + 3% April 2019]. For Headteachers on more than £80,000 it would be worth slightly less as the April 2018 offer is capped at a flat rate of £1,600; and for probationers and those on main grade Point 1 it is worth more as the proposal would still be to shorten the main grade from 6 points to 5. A further proposed 3% in April 2020 would take the compounded increase to 12.5%, compared to March 2018, i.e. current scales.

However, at the moment the DFM’s letter is not an offer. Only COSLA, as our employers, can legally make an offer. COSLA has said it cannot consider making an offer until its Leaders meeting planned for 25 January. It cannot be taken as a formality as COSLA has had difficulties internally in making any improved offer to teachers’ pay throughout the negotiation process.

SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee – 14 January
The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee will consider developments at its meeting today. In the absence of an improved offer from COSLA it will need to plan the next phase of the campaign including moving to a statutory ballot for strike action.

The View of Members
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

Further updates will be issued.

Career Pathways – BME Teachers

The Independent Panel on Career Pathways has been set up to gather evidence in relation to possible new career pathways for the teaching profession to address the issues related to recruitment and retention, and to provide recommendations to the SNCT. As an element of its evidence-gathering work, the Panel has organised a consultation event exclusively for BME teachers.

The details of the event are:

Date:       Thursday 17th January 2019
Time:       1630-1800
Venue:    Meeting Room 108
                 Jurys Inn Glasgow
                 80 Jamaica Street
                 Glasgow
                 G1 4QG

Refreshments will be available on arrival.

14/01/2019