Delegates at the annual general meeting of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) said their mood was “hardening” towards councils as inflation-adjusted salaries have fallen 16.4 per cent from levels agreed under the 2003 McCrone deal.
The EIS has turned down a one per cent pay rise offer for 2017/18, with motions calling on members to “prepare a campaign to restore salaries to the values of the McCrone settlement, based on inflation figures, and to negotiate on this basis for next year’s pay settlement”.
Failure to reach such a deal would mean a ballot on industrial action, including strikes, from the start of the 2018/19 year, the EIS said.
The 16 per cent fall is measured against the retail prices index (RPI) – on the alternative consumer prices index (CPI) the decrease is eight per cent.
Larry Flanagan, EIS general secretary, said the pay and conditions votes were a clear warning to employers.
He continued: “(The) AGM has sent out a very strong message to local authority employers and the Scottish government that action needs to be taken to address declining levels of teachers’ pay.
“Following more than a decade of declining pay, real-terms pay cuts and pay freezes, the mood of teachers is hardening.
“The soaring workload facing teachers, combined with the recruitment challenges facing the profession, highlight the need for salary levels to be addressed to ensure that teachers are paid at an appropriate level.”
Iain Gray, Scottish Labour’s education spokesman, said: “As a result of SNP mismanagement of education, college lecturers have already had to strike. It would be a disgrace if teachers were also forced to do that to get Mr Swinney to pay attention to his day job.”
Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative shadow education spokeswoman, said strike action would be counter-productive.
“Strike action benefits no-one and I would urge the EIS to use other means to debate their concerns. With the impending governance changes, headteachers in Scotland’s schools will receive new powers.”
These changes should include greater freedoms to implement better structures for pay and conditions and the ability to improve the delivery of the Curriculum for Excellence, Ms Smith said.
A Scottish government spokesman said: “Teachers’ pay and conditions of service are matters for the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT). Negotiations are currently on-going and the Scottish government will play its part in that process.”