Teachers union overwhelmingly vote to accept latest Scottish Government pay offer
Teachers at Scotland's largest teaching union have overwhelmingly voted to accept the Scottish Government's latest pay offer.
Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union voted to accept the offer with 90% in favour of agreeing to the new pay deal.
Teachers in Scotland will see their pay increase by 12.3% next month and will also receive 7% of their pay backdated from April 2022.
There is also a further 5% increase this April and a 2% increase in pay from January next year.
The union had suspended planned strikes when the offer was made last week.
The EIS said turnout for the ballot stood at 82% and the result was confirmed after the ballot closed.
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: “EIS members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the current pay offer, with 90% of those voting opting to accept in an online ballot.
"Turnout in the ballot was also high, confirming that Scotland’s teachers believe that it is now time to accept the offer and bring an end to the programme of industrial action in our schools.”
Ms Bradley added: “The acceptance of this offer will mean that, for most teachers, their pay will increase by 12.3% by next month in comparison to current pay levels.
"This includes a backdated 7% increase from April 2022, and a 5% increase from this April.
"Teachers will also receive a further 2% increase in pay from January next year, with the next pay settlement then scheduled to be negotiated and payable from August 2024 onwards.
"The total current package will amount to a 14.6% increase in pay for most teachers by January 2024.”
Ms Bradley added members of the union had taken a "pragmatic decision" when voting to accept the offer.
She said: "While it does not meet our aspirations in respect of a restorative pay settlement for Scotland’s teachers, it is the best deal that can realistically be achieved in the current political and financial climate without further prolonged industrial action.
"It compares favourably with recent pay settlements across the public sector, and does provide pay certainty for Scotland’s teachers for the next 16 months until the next pay settlement is scheduled to be delivered in August 2024.”
The EIS spokeswoman. said that it had been "deeply regrettable" that teachers had been forced to strike.
She said: “It is deeply regrettable that it took a sustained industrial dispute, and the first programme of national strike action on pay by teachers in 40 years, for the Scottish Government and COSLA to finally come up with an acceptable pay offer for Scotland’s hard-working teaching professionals.
"Scotland’s pupils, parents and teachers deserve better, and the Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities must commit to ensuring that education is properly funded and that teachers are fairly paid, in all future years in order that Scottish Education can provide as it should for our young people and for the good of our whole society.”
The EIS, SSTA and NASUWT teaching unions have been in a year-long industrial dispute with councils.
The deadlock was finally disrupted last week when councils made a fresh offer which would see most teachers' salaries rise by £5,200 in April.
The EIS said the time that the deal did not represent the achievement of its aims but it had negotiated a compromise, which it would put to members.
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