Schools close across Forth Valley

Children across the Forth Valley are facing disruption.

Members of two trade unions are striking, in a dispute over pay.

All local primary and secondary schools are shut today.

They were also closed yesterday.

EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “EIS members remain absolutely resolute in their determination to secure a fair pay settlement from the Scottish Government and COSLA. This two-day national strike action is a further clear signal that Scotland’s teachers are not prepared to accept the deep real-terms pay cut that is being offered to them. Support for the ongoing programme of strike action remains very strong, with a growing number of teachers out on picket lines with each day of action. Indeed, the EIS processed a significant number of new membership applications in the run up to today’s action, as more teachers expressed their desire to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their colleagues on EIS picket lines this week.”

Ms Bradley continued, “Teachers, pupils and parents have been badly let down by both the Scottish Government and COSLA throughout this dispute. For more than a year, they have slow-played negotiations on a fair pay settlement for teachers, preferring instead to hide behind undemocratic anti-trade union laws while also attempting to bypass the appropriate collective bargaining procedures. It is not through leaks to the press and soundbites on the airwaves that this dispute will be settled – it is only by appropriate negotiations, through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), that an agreement can be struck.