In February 2016 the NASUWT wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning demanding the re-opening of pay negotiations for 2016-17.

The NASUWT is the only teacher union to demand the re-opening of pay negotiations and to campaign for pay levels which reward Scottish teachers appropriately.

On 11 September 2015, the NASUWT, the fastest growing teachers’ union in Scotland, rejected the 2015-17 pay and conditions offer for teachers from local authority employers.

The NASUWT has rejected the offer as inadequate and unacceptable to address the shortfall in teachers’ pay and working conditions since 2011.

The key elements of the 2015-17 offer were as follows:

  • A two-year pay deal providing a 1.5% uplift for 2015/16 and a further 1% uplift for 2016/17 on all scales and spinal points.
  • To agree that an evaluation and review of the impact of the recommendations of the Supply Teachers' Working Group will be concluded by January 2016 with a view to addressing any ongoing issues in the delivery of supply teaching.
  • To agree a statement and principles for managing teacher workload.
On canvassing members’ opinion on the offer there was overwhelming support for a rejection.

The offer:
 
  • does not make any progress towards restoring teachers’ pay to pre-2011 levels, despite the fact that teachers are thousands of pounds worse off as a result of the year-on-year real-terms cuts to their salaries;
     
  • fails to address the full restoration of supply teachers’ pay and conditions, with the Employer instead opting for a delaying tactic rather than recognising that the main solution to improving availability of supply cover is to fully restore supply teachers’ pay and conditions immediately.
     
  • seeks to link the development and implementation of strategies to address and manage teacher workload with accepting the pay offer. Excessive workload remains the chief concern of members and schools and employers should already be putting in place effective strategies to tackle this issue as a result of recommendations agreed by the Scottish Government’s Tackling Bureaucracy Working Group. Strategies to address and manage teacher workload should not, therefore, be dependent on accepting pay offers which will worsen teachers’ pay and conditions of service.
     
  • will not address the deeply worrying trend of teacher shortages, to which pay and workload are contributing factors.