Trade unions representing Scotland’s teachers have today (Wednesday 30 November) issued a formal unanimous rejection of the latest ‘revised’ pay offer from the Scottish Government and COSLA. The differentiated 5% offer which was presented by the Scottish Government and COSLA represented no real improvement on their previous offer, which was rejected by teaching unions three months ago.

A letter from the Teachers’ Panel of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), the negotiating forum for teachers’ pay in Scotland, has made clear that the latest divisive offer was wholly unacceptable to Scotland’s teachers. The letter (copy attached) highlights that the offer represents no improvement on the previous offer for the vast majority of teachers, and is actually a worse offer for many. Commenting today, Des Morris, Chair of the Teachers’ Panel of the SNCT, said, “All of Scotland’s teaching unions – representing teachers in all sectors and in all grades of post – are united in rejection of this wholly unacceptable and divisive offer from COSLA and the Scottish Government. In rejecting this proposal, we have highlighted the lack of improvement on the previous offer, which was itself rejected unanimously some three months ago. In addition to offering no tangible improvement, this proposal is also worse for many experienced teachers in promoted posts compared to the previous offer. This proposal also quite absurdly given employers’ responsibilities around Fair Work and SNCT conditions of service, suggests that even more demands of teachers could have been made, adding to their already intolerable workloads, had employers chosen to do so. Also a red line is that the proposal offers a differentiated pay increase which is something that teaching unions made clear from the very start would never be acceptable to Scotland’s teachers.”

Mr Morris added, “If the Scottish Government and COSLA are truly serious about reaching a pay settlement with Scotland’s teachers – and halting industrial action in our schools – then they must come back with a much more credible, fair, undifferentiated  and substantially improved pay offer for all of Scotland’s teaching professionals. The offer that we have rejected unanimously today is neither credible nor fair, nor does it make any tangible improvement to the previously rejected offer. The united message from Scotland’s teaching unions and Scotland’s teachers is clear – the Scottish Government and COSLA need to stop the spin and get back to the negotiating table with a fair, credible and substantially improved, undifferentiated pay offer.”