Teachers in EIS union vote to accept last year’s pay offer

Members of Scotland’s largest teaching union have voted to accept last year’s pay offer, but the union is pushing for a larger increase in this year’s settlement.

EIS members voted 80% in favour of the 2021 offer, which gave a 1.22% pay increase effective from April 1 2021, and a further 1% effective from January 1 this year. Turnout was 45%.

The union says it now wants to see a 10% pay increase for all teachers and associated professionals in the 2022 offer.

It says members will be balloted on industrial action if no satisfactory offer is received by the end of 2022.

General secretary, Larry Flanagan, said: “EIS members have voted, albeit reluctantly, to support the recommendation to settle last year’s extremely delayed pay offer from their employers.

“Even while voting to accept, however, both the EIS and its members regard this offer as falling short of the pay increase that Scotland’s teaching professionals deserve.

“Whilst it was clear that Cosla and the Scottish Government were not going to improve their offer for last year, based on last year’s budgets and on last year’s level of inflation; by voting to accept this backdated offer, EIS members have fired the starting gun on a major campaign for a fairer and far greater pay settlement for 2022/23 – with the EIS having already formulated, and submitted, a claim for a 10% pay increase for Scotland’s teachers and associated professionals.”

He continued: “Scotland’s teachers have worked themselves into the ground over the past two years, often at great cost to their physical and mental health, to seek to ensure a continuing high-quality education for Scotland’s young people amidst the Covid pandemic.

“Our members have gone the extra mile, and they deserve to be appropriately remunerated for their efforts – the EIS is determined to ensure that Scotland’s teachers are paid fairly, using whatever means are necessary to achieve this goal.”

Last week, Mr Flanagan announced he would be stepping down from his role in the summer after a decade in the job.