SNP must repair relations with councils and unions as more than 210,000 days lost

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie has today said that the Education Secretary must rebuild relations with trade unions and local authorities as he revealed that more than 210,000 staff days were lost to strikes in just 18 months.

Freedom of information requests submitted by Scottish Liberal Democrats have revealed:

• In 2022/23, at least 170,049 school and council staff days were lost due to strikes, while a further 46,197 were lost between April and October 2023;
• Children missing out on up to a dozen days of education;  
• Among the local authorities which responded, Glasgow lost the most days of staff time with 29,295 days lost in just over 18 months, the overwhelming majority of which was in schools.

The trade union Unison has recently announced that it has written to all local authorities in Scotland to inform them strike ballots will be issued to more than 38,000 workers in schools, early years and family centres, with the potential for strikes in schools in September.

Willie Rennie said:

“No teacher wants to go out on strike. They are passionate about teaching and want to be in school, shaping young minds. However they can only be pushed so far.

“These figures represent weeks of education missed by children across Scotland.

“The Education Secretary needs to rebuild relations with trade unions and local authorities. That starts with a fair settlement for local government in this year’s budget. Education is half of what local authorities do but years of Scottish Government cuts have left them unable to plan for the future.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see teachers and school staff properly valued and local government finance reformed so that local authorities have more flexibility and do not have to depend on a fickle SNP government who threaten to cut their budgets every year.”