CLASSROOMS across Dumfries and Galloway will fall quiet tomorrow as teachers strike again.
All schools in the region will be closed as a result.
And with the planned industrial action falling in among the secondary school prelim schedule, some exams are having to be rescheduled.
Meanwhile, teachers’ union, The Educational Institute of Scotland, last week announced they are planning 22 extra days of strikes this year.
They have rejected a five per cent pay offer, on the grounds that with inflation running at 10.1 per cent, this is a real terms pay cut. Instead they want a ten per cent rise for staff.
And they have the support of South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth, who is calling on the Scottish Government to take action.
He joined some teachers on a picket line in Dumfries last week and said afterwards: “Let’s be clear, our amazing teachers don’t want to strike but they feel like they’ve got no choice.
“The cost of living crisis, following on from the years of misery during the pandemic, have brought many of our public services to their knees.
“I have stood on many picket lines in solidarity with workers these past couple of months and I will continue to fully support those who feel they must go on strike.
“We must stand up for public services and I would urge both governments to take on board what the unions are telling them and start paying teachers a decent wage, that is the only thing which will prevent more disruption. But these disputes go beyond pay and there is real frustration that the disputes weren’t resolved by the Government months ago and issues around workload and a lack of resources in schools are being ignored by the Government.”
