Glasgow to close all primary schools as council strike action escalates

All primary schools and nurseries in Scotland’s largest city are to close for three days next month, as council workers step up strike action in a dispute over pay.

Glasgow City Council announced all its nurseries, primaries and additional support for learning (ASL) schools will be closed when workers go out on strike from September 6 to 8.

That will see staff such as cleaners, janitors and catering staff walk out, along with early years workers and support for learning workers.

In a letter to parents, the council said: “The extent of the action on this occasion means that we have had to take the decision to close all the city’s primary schools, early learning and childcare establishments, and ASL schools.”

More than three quarters of councils will be impacted by strikes, with action now planned across education and waste services in 25 of the country’s 32 local authorities.

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Meanwhile, teachers in the EIS – Scotland’s largest teaching union – are also to be asked if they back taking strike action.

The union intends to hold a consultative ballot on what it says is the “latest inadequate pay offer from local authority employers”, with EIS bosses recommending teachers vote to reject the current 5% pay rise they have been offered.

Schools and early years staff in seven local authority areas will strike over three days in September, with Angus, Dundee, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, and South Lanarkshire all affected.

In addition, members employed by Tayside Contracts to provide catering and janitorial services in schools across Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross councils will also strike, taking the total of local authorities affected by strike action to 20.