Schools and nurseries across Glasgow to shut due to strike action

Schools and nurseries across Glasgow are set to close as a result of rolling strike action.

School staff working in Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, and Inverclyde councils who are members of Unison will walk out on Wednesday, November 1 in an ongoing dispute over pay.

The date is the first part of a rolling programme of action that will take place over the forthcoming weeks, with the union confirming that further strike dates will be announced in due course.

On Tuesday, Glasgow City Council announced that all nurseries, primary schools and ASL schools, including ASL secondaries, will be closed for all pupils.

Douglas Hutchison, executive director of education, has written to parents and guardians to inform them of the arrangements.

Secondary schools will only be open for S4 – S6 in similar arrangements to strikes last month.

The exception is Àrd-sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu – which will be closed to all pupils. It is not part of our PPP Contract and therefore is staffed by council staff rather than Amey staff.

The letter has been issued by schools and nurseries to their families to give them as much notice as possible to make alternative arrangements for the day of action.

Unison said more than 21,000 members of staff – including janitors, canteen workers, classroom assistants and cleaners – had overwhelmingly voted against most recent pay deal from council body Cosla.

The union’s head of local government Johanna Baxter said: “The strength of feeling amongst Unison school staff, who voted overwhelmingly to reject Cosla’s latest pay offer, is clear for all to see. Both in terms of ballot votes and the number of people on picket lines across Scotland.

“We’ve also seen a surge in Unison membership. That’s a testament to the strength of local government workers’ resolve to continue their fight for fair pay.

“The union is committed to resolving this dispute as soon as possible. Cosla and the Scottish Government are urged to get back round the negotiating table to explore every avenue to reach a settlement and avoid further disruption for parents and students.”

Councillor Katie Hagmann, COSLA resources spokesperson, said: “Obviously this ballot result from Unison is very disappointing given the strength of the offer on the table. I would like to make the following points:

“Firstly, Scotland’s council leaders value their workforce.

“Secondly, we have listened to our trade unions, met all their asks and worked with Scottish Government to put an incredibly strong half a billion pound pay package on the table – which we hope the other trade union members will vote to accept.

“Finally, offering almost 10% or a £2,006 pay increase for our lowest paid workers, which the unions specifically asked for, and £1,929 or at least 5.5% for everyone else is as far as local government can go without impacting service and jobs.”