Scottish teachers are to vote on strike action in a dispute over what union leaders describe as a “crippling” workload.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has accused the Scottish government of failing to deliver on its pledge to reduce class contact time to 21 hours a week.
The decision to hold a statutory ballot for industrial action was taken unanimously at a special meeting of the EIS executive committee on Tuesday.
General secretary Andrea Bradley said “unfair, unhealthy and unsustainable” workloads had affected teachers’ personal and professional lives for too long.
She added: “During this time, teachers have shown divine patience, while continuing to toil under excessive workload burdens. Thousands more teachers are without permanent contracts and out of work or underemployed as the Scottish government and Cosla have continually dithered, delayed and disagreed with one another over delivery of this essential commitment.
"The unanimous agreement by the EIS executive committee confirms that teachers' patience on this matter is now more than spent and we will now move ahead with a statutory ballot for industrial action.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said they were committed to working with unions and councils to agree an “approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time at pace”.