Scotland's parents are gearing up for more disruption to their children’s education following an overwhelming ballot in favour of strike action by the country’s largest teaching union.
The EIS announced the huge vote in favour of industrial action yesterday and almost immediately gave notice that members will be called out on the first of a planned series of strikes on November 24, less than two weeks away.
Parents will now be trying to arrange to take holidays or sort out childcare as education is interrupted once more.
Before the new EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley even took up her post she was warning of the likelihood of industrial action because teachers were angry at the below inflation pay offer.
She urged the Scottish Government and Cosla to come up with a better deal and warned if they didn’t, teachers would be likely to go on strike for the first time in four decades.
Her warning is becoming a reality with teachers set to walk out if there isn’t an improved offer.
With 96 per cent of the membership who voted in favour of a strike, the union has a massive mandate. And as the EIS represents eight in 10 teachers, the effect of any action will be sorely felt.
But Scotland’s children have had more than two years of disrupted education due the Covid pandemic. The last thing pupils, or their parents, need is further interruption to their education.
For the sake of our children’s future it is incumbent on both sides to get back around the negotiating table and hammer out an acceptable deal.
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville must meet the EIS as a matter of urgency to prevent a walkout.
Or she will have a lot of very angry parents on her hands.
We will remember
Today we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our way of life.
In two world wars and other conflicts, many British service personnel risked and lost their lives for freedoms some often take for granted.
Retired Rear Admiral Mark Beverstock saw the horrors of war when as a young Scottish sailor he served in the Falklands.
Today he is president of Poppyscotland and is acutely aware of the impact of war on those lucky enough to survive.
In Europe, brave Ukrainian men and women are putting their lives on the line against a tyrant to save their country.Sadly, war is always with us somewhere.
On Armistice Day we pay tribute to all those who have defended this country in those hours of need. Not just those who lost their lives but the veterans who today carry the physical and emotional scars of their service.
Lest we forget.
