Pupils and families at North Lanarkshire secondary and additional support needs schools are awaiting news of whether their classes will be impacted by strike action this Wednesday.
Members of the SSTA and NASUWT teaching unions will take industrial action on December 7 in both North and South Lanarkshire in the ongoing pay dispute.
North Lanarkshire officials say they are “assessing the capacity” of each of its 23 high schools and 13 additional needs schools, and plan to update families on the outcome later today.
A council spokesperson told Lanarkshire Live: “Early years facilities, nursery classes and primary schools will all be open to children on Wednesday, December 7 although some primary school classes may be affected.
“Primary schools will be in touch directly with parents and carers to inform them of any changes to the school day.
“Impacts on secondary schools and additional support needs schools are more complex and we are still assessing each school’s capacity. We will update parents and carers on Friday, December 2.”
North Lanarkshire's latest updates on the impact are set to be posted online.
SSTA members across Scotland are staging two days of targeted strikes next week, with industrial action taking place in both Lanarkshire authorities plus 15 other councils on Wednesday; with the remaining 15 councils being affected the following day.
Union president Catherine Nicol said members felt they “had no option” following “the failure of Cosla and the Scottish Government to make an improved pay offer”, saying: “Teachers have had enough of fine words and are being forced to strike to achieve an improved award.”
General secretary Seamus Searson added that “last-minute” negotiations over an award originally due in April “shows a complete lack of respect” and said: “The SSTA strike action will take place over two days and is intended to send a clear message to Cosla and the Scottish Government that teachers are serious about a fair pay deal.”
Next week’s strike action by members of the two unions follows last week’s closure of all schools in Lanarkshire while members of the EIS staged similar action in protest over the offered five per cent pay offer.
Members of Scotland’s largest teaching union will also be on strike in primary and secondary schools respectively on January 10 and 11, followed by further action in North Lanarkshire on January 19 and South Lanarkshire on February 3.
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