'Give nursery nurses a deal like teachers'

The four-year pay deal for Scotland's teachers has been criticised by union leaders representing striking nursery nurses.

The award, announced last week and backdated to 1 April, is worth 10.4 per cent and means that after four years probationer teachers will have a starting salary of 19,900, rising to 31,700 at the top of the main scale. Their current range is 18,000 to 28,700.

The deal was agreed by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), which is made up of representatives from the Scottish Executive, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) and the main teaching unions. Education minister Peter Peacock described it as 'a good deal for teachers, the public purse and pupils throughout Scotland'.

But a spokesman for the public services union Unison said, 'It is of course welcome that the teachers have come to an agreement on their pay, but it is deeply ironic that Scottish-wide pay for one group of educators has been stubbornly rejected for low-paid nursery nurses by the same employers. It is past time that those employers who haven't yet settled with the nursery nurses come forward with an offer that rewards them properly for the professional job they do.'

However, a CoSLA spokes- man said the situation with the nursery nurses was 'not comparable' to the teachers' pay deal.

Steven Purcell, education convenor and Glasgow City Council's representative on the SNCT, expressed concern about the effect the teachers' deal would have on the ongoing nursery nurse dispute. He said he had not attended the SNCT meeting, because he had not expected it to reach a conclusion, and had stayed on instead at a meeting in Glasgow to discuss the nursery nurse strike with council officials.

Mr Purcell added, 'There has inevitably been a critical response from Unison about this announcement and the fact that one group of staff have a four-year deal while others are in dispute. I would remind Unison that in percentage terms the offer on the table to the nursery nurses is of a higher value than that agreed at the SNCT.'

Councillor Charlie Gordon, leader of Glasgow City Council, questioned whether the teachers' pay deal would be fully funded by the Executive and warned it could lead to similar levels of claims from non-teaching staff in local government. He said, 'There is a unique tripartite mechanism for dealing with the pay claims of teachers involving the Executive, local Government and the unions.

'Some five weeks ago, the education minister, Peter Peacock, asked a COSLA meeting of cross-party council leaders for agreement to a four-year deal. He was advised that such a deal, in principle, was acceptable, but only after the Executive could give a guarantee that it would fully fund similar levels of awards for other staff in local authorities.'

Mr Gordon said he had seen no evidence so far that the Executive would fund the four-year teachers' deal or commit to future deals for all other staff. 'It opens up the possibility of councils across Scotland having to fund both the teachers' pay award as well as future pay settlements for everyone else from within their own resources,' he added. He said this would lead to a rise in council tax.

Meanwhile, 180 nursery nurses in West Dunbartonshire returned to work this week after accepting an improved offer from the local authority of 9.83 an hour, with new grades and salaries backdated to 1 April 2003. They also receive a one-off payment of 1,500. Nursery nurses in East Lothian also settled for 10.13 an hour.