London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Teachers start three days of targeted strikes

Teachers start three days of targeted strikes

Targeted strike action is taking place in the row over teachers' pay.

The Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS) is staging a three-day walk out in the constituencies of politicians close to the dispute.

Schools are affected in areas represented by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, her deputy John Swinney, Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville and Greens MSP Ross Greer.

Ms Somerville said she was focused on resolving the dispute.

She has also written an open letter to pupils that outlines the support available to them during industrial action.

The union rejected a new pay offer last week.

Teachers want a 10% pay increase which ministers say is unaffordable.

The latest offer included a 6% pay rise in the current year and a further 5.5% in the new financial year.

The Scottish government had found £156m to fund the two-year deal.

Teachers are calling for a 10% raise

While the EIS turned down the offer, the NASUWT and the SSTA unions said they would consider it.

The EIS said the 6% raise for 2022-23 was insufficient, as inflation is currently at 10.5%.

From 22 to 24 February, the EIS said its members would strike in the constituencies of:

*  First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow Southside)

*  Deputy First Minister John Swinney (Perthshire North)

*  Cabinet Secretary for Education Shirley-Anne Somerville (Dunfermline)

*  Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland (action targeted in East Dunbartonshire)

A further three days of action from 7 March will target the four MSPs' constituencies and the ward of Dumfries and Galloway councillor Katie Hagmann.

She is resources spokesperson for council umbrella body Cosla but as councillor her ward is Mid Galloway and Wigtown West.

These targeted schools face 10 days of strikes in total over the next two months if the dispute is not settled.

Schools in the rest of the country face four days of action.

There are two days of national strike action on 28 February and 1 March.

A further 20 days of regional rolling strikes will also go ahead across all local authority areas between 13 March and 21 April with each school hit twice.


'Particularly concerning'


EIS members have already taken part in three days of strike action - one national strike, one day of rolling regional action and a second national strike over two days made up of primary one day, secondary the next.

Some schools have also been affected by a separate day of action by the SSTA and NASUWT.

Ahead of the action, Ms Somerville said: "I want to reassure pupils, parents and carers that my focus remains on resolving this pay dispute, delivering a fair and sustainable settlement for teachers and ending disruption in our schools.

"The threat of further disruption in the run up to the exam diet is particularly concerning.

"I have written to local authorities asking them to consider how secondary schools can remain open for pupils preparing for exams, and this is being reviewed by councils on a school by school basis."

She added the pay talks were ongoing and repeated her call for trade unions to suspend industrial action during the discussions.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×