Teachers hold mass rallies during strike over pay

As reported by the BBC, thousands of teachers have joined rallies in Scottish cities as part of the country’s first national schools strike since the 1980s

It has led to the closure of nearly every primary and secondary school in the country, and many council nurseries.

A revised pay offer put to unions on Tuesday was rejected as ‘insulting’.

But Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said their demands for a 10% pay rise were “unaffordable”.

A new pay offer from employer Cosla – which would see rises of up to 6.85% for the lowest paid – was fair, Ms Somerville said.

Members of Scotland’s largest teachers’ union, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), and the Association of Head Teachers and Deputes Scotland (ADHS) picketed outside schools on Thursday morning.

They joined colleagues at rallies in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, Inverness and outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in the afternoon.

EIS representative Roisin McArthur, who works as a teacher at Govan Gaelic Primary School, told BBC Scotland the strike was a last resort.

“We’re sorry that the Scottish government and Cosla have forced us to do this. We really don’t want to be doing this,” she said.

“If people really want to really invest in children and Scotland’s future, that means investing in education and that means investing in teachers.”

She said teachers on the picket line had received “great” support from the public.

“We’ve had loads of cars honking their horns,” she said. “We’ve had people giving us a wave and it’s really motivating and encouraging to see the amount of support that we’re getting out here today.”