Orkney teachers and lecturers to strike

Teachers and lecturers in Orkney will join colleagues throughout the country and in a day of industrial action on Wednesday, November 30.

The strike is in protest at the government’s plan to impose changes to pension schemes which would result in a real-terms pay cut of more than eight per cent for teachers, lecturers and other public sector workers.

This comes on top of a current two-year pay freeze and other suggested cuts to terms and conditions for teachers.

Orkney EIS local secretary Jim Lawson said: “We do not want to strike — this will be the first national strike action by teachers and lecturers for a quarter of a century — but we have been driven to this by continuing cuts to public services and sustained attacks on the living standards of public sector workers.

“We hope that parents, students and the wider community here in Orkney will understand that we are taking this action as a last resort.”