The Herald can exclusively reveal that the voting unions’ efforts to mobilize members for industrial action over school cuts have not resulted in the required turnout.
It is acknowledged that the AHDS, which represents headteachers, and the EIS, which represents classroom teachers, did not reach the necessary 50% turnout criterion, thus industrial action will not proceed at this time.
Although the AHDS reported that the number of votes cast was well in favor of industrial action, it acknowledged that it had fallen slightly short of the necessary participation requirements. The Herald understands that although the EIS’s ballot closed at the beginning of this week, it also narrowly missed the legal threshold, and that the majority of respondents were strongly in favor of action up to and including strikes. The EIS has not yet released results from this ballot.
According to the EIS, teachers have been “blocked” from taking action despite overwhelming support for it because of “restrictive anti-trade union laws” put in place by the previous administration. They have urged the Labour government to remove these laws “as a matter of urgency”.
Glasgow City Council is in the midst of removing 450 teaching positions from the city’s schools over the next three years due to a budget agreement reached between SNP and Green.
In an effort to overturn the policy, parent organizations have launched a protest campaign against the plans, denounced the council’s “deceptive tactics,” and started legal proceedings.
Charity organizations like the National Autistic Society and Dyslexia Scotland have refuted the council’s assertions that the cuts won’t significantly affect students with disabilities, and council representatives have acknowledged that the plans “may have a detrimental impact on the poorest children and young people.”
The AHDS General Secretary, Greg Dempster, told The Herald that his organization continues to feel that the reduction in the number of teachers in Glasgow will have serious detrimental effects and that they ought to be dropped:
“While our ballot’s turnout fell short of what was required for action to proceed, the majority of voters were quite supportive of industrial action. This probably gives a picture of the cuts having a diverse impact in different schools. It is important to recognize the harm that these cuts will cause to education, school administrators’ well-being, and the appeal of headteacher positions in Glasgow. AHDS continues to believe that these reductions will have a long-term detrimental effect on city education and should be reversed.
“Officers will continue to engage with our trade union colleagues and keep them updated on any developments,” a spokesman for Glasgow City Council stated.
“The cuts that are already in place in Glasgow are immensely detrimental to the educational experiences of children and young people as well as to the working lives of teachers, and they are set to grow worse in the years ahead with effectively 10% fewer teachers working in Glasgow City by 2027,” stated Andrea Bradley, general secretary of EIS. Teachers in Glasgow have demonstrated a strong will to resist these changes by collaborating with parent organizations and other trade union colleagues throughout the City. Sadly, however, the draconian restrictions placed on trade union action by the previous Conservative administration mean that, despite a 95% vote in favour action short of strike and 90% vote for strike action, for the time being, Glasgow EIS members are presently prohibited from taking industrial action about this matter.
Introduced under a right-wing Conservative government, the UK today has some of the strictest anti-trade union laws in Europe. These laws impose severe limitations on workers’ rights to organize and defend employment, working conditions, and services. The goal of these legislation was to restrict employees’ ability to defend themselves collectively, and that is exactly what they have accomplished. The present Labour government made explicit pre-election assurances to remove the harsh anti-trade union regulations enacted by the previous government, and they must act to implement this promise as a matter of urgency. Workers should always be able to defend their own interests and those of the youth they assist when faced with the kind of devastating cuts Glasgow is presently experiencing.
At present, EIS Glasgow is deliberating over the results of the poll and possible courses of action in the struggle to preserve teaching positions and youth education in Glasgow. When employment cuts and learning opportunities are threatened, I firmly believe that the EIS nationwide will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Glasgow members and those in any other council area to preserve high-quality education.
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Emmanulla Jacob