Union suspends planned strike by Glasgow teachers
It came after the council said it will look to increase teacher numbers in the city.
A strike by teachers in Glasgow planned for next week has been suspended after a “positive meeting” saw the local authority pledge to increase teacher numbers.
Members of the EIS teaching union had been due to walk out on Thursday February 20 in protest over Glasgow City Council cuts to teaching staff.
However in a letter to the union, the council’s workforce convener Allan Casey said the authority would “remove future cuts from consideration”.
The council budget for 2025-26 – which is due to be presented on February 20 – will “remove the future years teachers savings”, with Mr Casey saying £17 million would be found over two years to achieve this.
He went on to pledge the council would use additional cash from the Scottish Government to “increase the number of teachers”.
While the ruling SNP group does not have a majority of councillors, Mr Casey said his party is “hopeful others in the chamber will back our education services and support our stated aims”.
Glasgow EIS local association secretary Jane Gow said in the wake of the statement, the union had “taken the decision to suspend our planned strike action”.
If the walkout went ahead, the union had already said there was a “strong likelihood” most of the schools in the city would be closed for the day.
Ms Gow said the council’s commitments are a “strong result for Glasgow EIS members and the young people in our schools, with a promise to withdraw future planned cuts and a pledge to utilise additional Scottish Government funding to employ more teachers in Glasgow”.
She continued: “While the offer is not yet binding, and still has to pass through the full processes of council and be confirmed in next week’s budget, the EIS is suspending strike action as an act of good faith while this process continues to its conclusion.”
EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley also welcomed the council’s statement, saying: “Glasgow EIS members have secured a significant victory in their campaign against education cuts.
“It is through working collectively, and working in partnership with Glasgow parent groups, that our members in Glasgow have secured a political commitment to stop the cuts and a pledge that will increase the number of teachers working in the city’s schools.
“By standing together, standing firm and by delivering a resounding 95% vote in favour of taking strike action, EIS members in Glasgow have taken a huge step closer to securing a better future for education in Glasgow, and for the pupils and teachers in the city’s schools.”
Ms Bradley added union members in Glasgow had been the “standard-bearers” for the EIS’s national Stand Up for Quality Education campaign – which she said would “continue to oppose any cuts to education across Scotland, while putting pressure on politicians to deliver a better deal for our schools, teachers and young people”.
She said: “Glasgow EIS local association has shown the way and demonstrated the power of acting collectively to overcome damaging threats to our education system.
“The EIS, both nationally and at local level in Scotland’s 32 council areas, will continue to keep a watchful eye on Scottish Government and local authority spending commitments on education, and stands ready to do all that it can to Stand Up for Quality Education for all young people across the country.”
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “We have been notified by the EIS that next week’s industrial action has been suspended.
“We are sure that our families will welcome the news that there will be no disruption to learning and teaching.”
