TEACHING unions have called for the First Minister to intervene in pay talks ahead of a slew of strike dates in the new year.
Members of the NASUWT and the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association were taking part in a second day of industrial action with schools all over the country closing.
READ MORE: Teachers formally reject Scottish Government and Cosla pay offer
Teachers with the EIS downed tools at the end of last month and already have another 16 days of strike action planned in January and February.
The unions came together on Thursday at a rally outside the Scottish Parliament, organised by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC).
Ministers and COSLA have previously offered a “progressive” pay increase of either £1,926 or 5 per cent which would see more targeted help for those on the lowest salaries, giving them a pay hike equivalent to 6.85%.
That has been rejected by the unions who are seeking around 10%.
Speaking at the rally, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley, pointed out that the last time her members had “been left with no other option but to strike for fair pay” Margaret Thatcher had been in power.
“There’s an embarrassing lesson in that for the Scottish Government today,” she said.
READ MORE: Opinion: Sick of strikes? There is a better way to set public sector pay
Ms Bradley added, “Today our colleagues in the SSTA and NASUWT are striking the length and breadth of the country as part of the same dispute. Solidarity to them.
"We will be striking again in the new year unless the Scottish Government and COSLA can get into the Christmas spirit, stop being Scrooges and bring a decent offer to the table before the holidays.“
She added that the SNP government had been “talking a lot about democracy these past few weeks, and how important it is”.
“When 96% of EIS members vote to reject 5% and then when 96% vote to strike for better - if you care about democracy, you don’t bring 5% or worse back to the table.
"That’s disrespectful of trade union democracy and completely flies in the face of Fair Work,” she added.
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the SSTA, told the PA: “We need a resolution, it doesn’t matter who comes (to the table).
“If the First Minister is willing to come in and talk to us, then the sooner the better. But the offer they have made at the moment is not what we’re after.
“It’s not enough so we do need somebody to come in and be the peacemaker to get this resolved.”
Mr Searson took aim at the Education Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, as he accused the Scottish Government of “stringing” teachers along.
He said: “Teachers are very angry. They feel they have been messed about. They feel they haven’t been shown proper respect.
“The Government didn’t think teachers would take strike action but teachers have been forced into this because we’re trying to get a pay deal that should have been paid in April.
“The Education Secretary needs to find some money and come to the table to get this situation resolved. At the moment, we just feel that they are stringing us along.”
READ MORE: Scots teachers on second day of strike action in pay dispute
A spokesman for the First Minister told journalists on Thursday he was “not aware of any specific” interventions planned by Ms Sturgeon “beyond what we’ve said already”.
“The Education Secretary was saying yesterday we understand the point teachers are making, but equally there needs to be a recognition and an understanding that we’re operating within very tight finances which are already significantly shortened by inflation,” he added.
“We have to be realistic on that basis.”
When asked if teachers’ unions were unrealistic in the calls for a 10% pay increase, the spokesman said the Scottish Government was “sympathetic” to the plight of teachers but that pay offers had to be “affordable” and there was no “bottomless pit of cash”.
John Swinney is set to deliver the Scottish Government's budget on December 15.
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