Teacher strike in Scotland could be prevented if 'additional funding' is found, claims SNP minister

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The education secretary has hinted a teacher strike could be prevented later this month if "additional funding" is found by the Scottish Government.Shirley-Anne Somerville said she is "absolutely determined" to find alternative funding for the teacher pay deal after the country's biggest teaching union announced it will walkout.The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) revealed on Wednesday that 96 per cent of members who voted in the ballot were in favour of industrial action after the union rejected a 5 per cent pay increase in September.Somerville said she is determined to prevent strike action taking place.

She told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "When we met the trade unions yesterday, along with Cosla, there was a clear understanding from everyone in the room that no-one wanted to get to the stage where there was industrial action."No one wants to see that because we all appreciate the huge disruption that children and young people have faced over the past few years."That's why as a Scottish Government, we're absolutely determined to see what we can do, to see if there's additional funding that we can provide to Cosla to allow Cosla as the employers to provide an enhanced pay offer.

I very much hope teachers would be able to look at that offer, take it to its members and we could not have industrial action."The industrial action is not inevitable and I would absolutely urge, as we've done with all the trade union colleagues today, to keep up that constructive dialogue and make sure we're doing everything we can to avoid that."The announcement of the strike comes against a backdrop of intensifying industrial strife across the UK, with the Royal College of Nursing the latest health union to