Created on: 08 Oct 2025
As intimated in Friday’s member briefing, the EIS Executive Committee met yesterday to consider the request from Salaries Committee to initiate a statutory ballot for industrial action in pursuit of the SNCT workload dispute.
Following a report on the disappointing lack of tangible progress at the SNCT working group on reducing class contact time, the Executive Committee unanimously decided to proceed with a statutory ballot for industrial action.
Accordingly, preparations for a statutory ballot to open following the October break are now underway.
It is now nearly five years since the Scottish Government promised to the electorate to address unsustainable, unfair and unhealthy levels of teacher workload through a reduction in weekly class contact time to a maximum of 21 hours.
Despite consistent effort on the part of the Teachers’ Side of the SNCT, neither the Scottish Government nor COSLA have brought a proposal on the implementation of this promise to the negotiating table.
Furthermore, neither COSLA nor the Scottish Government have given a formal commitment that the 1.5 hours resulting from a reduction in weekly class contact time to 21 hours will be afforded fully to teachers to carry out the tasks associated with the preparation of learning, teaching and assessment that a wealth of evidence shows they are carrying out regularly over and above the contractual 35 hour working week.
Both COSLA and the Scottish Government have fundamentally failed to meet their commitments, whilst teachers continue to work under the intolerable pressure of unsustainable workload.
Whilst a decision has been taken to move to statutory ballot, the EIS remains committed to reaching a negotiated settlement and will take every opportunity to discuss and agree an acceptable way forward with the Scottish Government and COSLA.
The SNCT working group on reducing class contact time meets again today and a further report will be sent to members as soon as possible following this meeting.
Further information relating to the postal statutory industrial action ballot will also be shared with members in the coming days.
Ahead of the ballot opening, please ensure that your postal details are up to date on the EIS database by (checking the accuracy of the information relating to your membership details - for example, if your home address is wrong, your ballot paper will not reach you).
With a statutory industrial action ballot taking place in the new term, and the prospect of industrial action in the new year, the Scottish Government and COSLA must now match words with action and urgently bring proposals to the negotiating table that ensure that the time afforded from reducing weekly class contact time to 21 hours is given, in full to teachers’ ‘preparation and correction’, and that the implementation plan for this promise is agreed fully at the SNCT.