Tens of thousands of Scottish teachers are to take strike action later in November after union leaders won an overwhelming mandate to intensify a long-running wage dispute.
The EIS, Scotland’s largest teachers’ union, said teachers would strike in nearly all Scotland’s schools on Thursday 24 November, in the first national stoppage by the union for almost 40 years, in pursuit of a 10% increase in pay.
The EIS said 96% of the 35,000 teachers who took part in its ballot had backed a strike, after they had rejected a 5% pay offer from employers. Teachers’ unions in England and Wales are also balloting their members on strike action.
The Scottish government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), which represents the country’s 32 local councils, said they were “working at pace” to reach a settlement in the dispute but warned a strike would unfairly punish children.
