Further school closures are likely in Perth and Kinross in the new year after more teachers’ strike dates were announced.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) announced a further 16 days of action nationwide across January and February next year in the dispute over pay.
The consecutive days of action are split across every council in the country with the Perth and Kinross Council area walkout to take place on January 17.
Fife, Angus and Dundee council areas will also hold their strike days on January 18, January 20 and February 2 respectively.
Industrial action last Thursday closed nearly every primary and secondary school in the country, including Perth and Kinross, as well as many nurseries.
Plans are already in place for strikes by primary teachers on January 10 and secondary teachers on January 11.
The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) also says secondary school teachers will strike on December 7-8.
EIS members rejected the Scottish Government and Cosla’s fourth pay offer to teachers, including an increase of up to 6.85 per cent, resulting in a salary of just over £35,000 for a qualified teacher.
Higher faculty roles would have gained a five per cent increase under the offer, taking the annual salary to just over £44,000.
EIS and Association of Head Teachers and Deputes Scotland (AHDS) unions rejected the offer, with the former calling it an “insult”.
Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said their demand for a 10 per cent pay rise was “unaffordable” and called the latest offer “fair”.
Meanwhile, RMT union members at ScotRail have accepted an increased pay offer, averting a planned series of strikes in the run up to Christmas.
ScotRail said this means wages will rise by 7.5 per cent for staff such as conductors and ticket examiners with an 8.5 per cent increase for lower-paid workers.
RMT members at Network Rail are, however, still to agree a pay deal with strike dates on December 13-14, 16-17 and January 3-4, 6-7 going ahead.
In other news, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Scotland has paused strike action after the government reopened NHS pay negotiations.
However, nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will proceed with the biggest walkout in the NHS’s history on December 15 and 20.
The RCN said it had been given no choice after ministers would not reopen talks, but the government said the 19 per cent pay rise demanded was unaffordable.
Ambulance service strikes have been suspended while unions Unite and GMB Scotland undertake a consultative ballot of its NHS members over a new pay offer from the Scottish Government.
An improved pay offer averaging 7.5 per cent has been made with first minister Nicola Sturgeon and health secretary Humza Yousaf involved in “extensive” talks ahead of the proposal.
A 26-hour strike involving around 1700 GMB members across the Scottish Ambulance Service had been due to commence at 6am on November 28.
Dates for the consultative ballot involving GMB members in NHS and SAS are yet to be confirmed.
GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said: “GMB is clear that staff must be valued better if government wants to recruit and retain the people needed to tackle the chronic understaffing crisis across NHS frontline services.”
