Created on: 08 Dec 2022 | Last modified: 20 Apr 2023
The EIS, will be supporting the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC) Mass Lobby of Parliament today.
The event in support of the People’s Plan of Action follows the recent publication of the STUC report Scotland Demands Better: Fairer taxes for a fairer future which highlights how progressive tax reform could raise an additional £3.3Billion by 2026, including £1.3Billion of tax reforms by April 2023 to help fund public services and public sector pay.
Commenting ahead of the rally, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, "This rally is calling for a fairer deal for Scotland's people and for the country's public sector workers. In addition to calling for a real pay rise for all public service workers, this rally is also calling for the introduction of universal free school meals and the enforcement of fair work policies across Scotland.
"These objectives are shared by the EIS, and we are pleased to support today’s Scotland Demands Better mass lobby at the Scottish Parliament today."
Ms Bradley added, "Scotland's teachers are currently in dispute over the succession of real-terms pay cuts that have been offered to them this year. Since teaching unions submitted their pay claim at the start of the year, a succession of sub-inflationary offers - at 2%, 3.5%, 5% and then 5% again – have been made by the Scottish Government and COSLA, and rejected by Scotland’s teachers.
"With inflation currently sitting at between 11% (CPI) and 14% (RPI), the latest rejected offer would have meant a real-terms pay cut of between 6% and 9% for classroom teachers, and even greater cuts for promoted staff such as headteachers and deputes."
Ms Bradley added, "Fundamentally, the funding of quality public services and fair pay for public sector workers are a matter of political priorities. Just last week, we saw an Audit Commission report highlighting that the Scottish Government had underspent on last year's budget by two billion pounds.
"That was a political choice by the Scottish Government, and one that has profound implications for our public services. If the Scottish Government is serious about protecting our public services and valuing public sector workers, they must commit to funding our public services properly and paying our public sector workers fairly."