Teachers' Pay

That the Parliament notes that the Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS) union, which represents around 80% of teaching professionals, including in the West Scotland region, has launched its Pay Attention campaign, calling for a 10% pay rise for teachers amid the cost of living crisis; understands that the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) Teachers' side has formally rejected the offer of 2% from the Employers' Side for 2022-23; considers that this pay offer is sub-inflationary in light of the Bank of England reporting an inflation rate of 9%; notes the views of the NASUWT Pay Claim booklet Teachers' Pay Award 2021-22 that teachers’ salaries have eroded in real terms in the last decade, and that, calculated using the Retail Price Index inflation factor, the real-terms fall in teachers’ salaries from 2010 to 2018 was 18%; further notes that the EIS has reportedly stated that it will ballot members for industrial action if necessary; acknowledges what it sees as the extraordinary work of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included teaching young people both online and in person, often in what it considers to be poorly-ventilated classrooms, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to take action to ensure all teachers and school staff receive a real terms pay rise for the year 2022-23.