EIS strike: council leader calls for Jenny Gilruth to be sacked, sparking ‘bizarre rant’ reply
Fife Council’s leader has said education secretary Jenny Gilruth should have been “removed from her post” for her handling of talks to halt the threat of school strikes.
Councillor David Ross slammed the minister at Thursday’s full council meeting claiming she had “ignored extensive risks and concerns” in reaching a deal which he fears could be undeliverable.
However a spokesperson for Ms Gilruth hit back describing the Labour councillor’s comments as a “bizarre rant”.
They said: “Thanks to the actions of the SNP Government, strikes in our schools were averted and a landmark deal was agreed with our teachers.
“Labour’s actions throughout that process almost gave the impression that they wanted strikes to take place – and this bizarre rant seems to suggest that Labour councillors are unhappy that a deal was done. The spokesperson dismissed the call as “petty politics.”
Addressing councillors on Thursday, Cllr Ross said everybody – especially parents – were pleased a resolution had been reached to avert school closures. However he was unhappy at the way the dispute was dealt with.
“There is a significant level of cross party anger within local government on how this has been handled and how it was allowed to come to a head with industrial action,” he said.
“Given that the Scottish Government had five years to address this issue and I have to say in terms of the actions of the Cabinet Secretary, I think instead of working constructively to find a solution, she has sought to exclude local government as the employer from discussions with the unions.
“She has ignored extensive risks and concerns laid out by our professional advisors, ignoring the practical difficulties with implementation of this, not least the number of teachers actually available to implement this.”
Before the deal, which will see a reduction in the maximum class contact time for teachers and extra staff brought into ease pressure on existing workforce, two days of strike action had been due to take place in Fife this month.
Cllr Ross said local government had been forced into a “very difficult” situation.
He added: “I am glad we have a resolution to this but instead of the first minister praising the cabinet secretary for their management skills, he should actually have removed her from her post.
“I have highlighted the significant risks and significant dangers that it will be undeliverable and we will see. We had to sign up to a policy which is unaffordable, undeliverable and not in the interest of children or their education and may expose councils to further risks in relation to industrial action from other groups.”
Fife’s SNP group leader, councillor Craig Walker, disagreed.
“This is a positive outcome for Scottish education and for teachers and pupils,” he said. “It will deliver more teachers into our schools with a positive impact on teacher’s workload and the creation of an improved environment and experience for our pupils.”