Warning Scots schools face autumn closure as 48,500 teachers are today balloted for strike action

A consultative ballot last month returned a 91% vote in favour of strike action over pay and conditions.

Some 94% of those taking part rejected the 5% pay offer put forward by the local authority body, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

Now the EIS has confirmed that it has today opened a statutory strike ballot over teachers’ pay in all 32 council areas across Scotland.

Postal ballot papers are now being issued to EIS members across Scotland, who will have until November 8 to use their vote.

The EIS is urging its members to vote Yes to strike action, in the continuing campaign for " a fair pay settlement" for teachers.

A teachers strike could mean the closure of schools across Scotland this autumn.

It comes two weeks after unions representing council staff accepted a COSLA pay offer that gave the lowest-paid staff a 10% pay rise on the eve of an education staff strike that would have closed schools across Scotland. The unions and their members had also rejected a 5% pay offer.

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EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said, “In opening this statutory ballot for strike action today, the EIS is acting in the best interests of Scotland’s teaching professionals. We had hoped not to get to this point, but a series of much delayed and sub-inflation level pay offers from the employers have angered our members and forced this move towards strike action.

"Our members responded magnificently to our recent consultative ballot, turning out in huge numbers to reject the wholly inadequate 5% pay offer and to indicate a strong willingness to take strike action in pursuit of a fair settlement. The statutory ballot that we are opening today will provide us with a clear mandate to commence a programme of strike action later this autumn, should no satisfactory offer have been received by the time the ballot closes next month.”

The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association has also rejected the 5% pay deal, with the majority saying they would back strike action without an improved deal.

Ms Bradley added: "The EIS is urging its members to vote Yes for strike action, so that we can secure another overwhelming result that will make COSLA and Scottish Government think hard about the kind of improved offer that they need to bring to the negotiating table if strike action by teachers is to be averted.

"The growing cost of living crisis is impacting on people across the country, and our members are not prepared to accept a sub-inflation level pay award that represents a deep real-terms cut to their pay. With inflation already at more than 12%, a pay offer at less than half that level is simply not going to cut it with Scotland’s teachers. COSLA and the Scottish Government must act now to deliver a fair pay deal for teachers, or face the reality of widespread strike action across Scotland’s schools this autumn.”

Taxpayers were forced to foot a further £200m every year to fund the huge council staff pay rise.

Within days the Scottish Government said savings of £500m would have to be made in the following the pay awards.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the new pay agreements had led to a bill of £700m, which meant “taking money from elsewhere”.

Union sources said the local authority group COSLA increased the pay pot from Scotland's 250,000 local authority workers from around £400m to £600m at the 11th hour allowing the lowest paid staff to get a pay increase of around 10% following the intervention of the First Minister.

That dispute saw piles of rubbish build up in city centres as waste workers went on strike.

The Scottish Government was originally only providing an extra £140m of funding on a recurring basis to support an original pay offer - while COSLA was to come up with the extra £260m.