TEACHING unions called on the SNP Scottish government to pay up today after rejecting the latest council pay cuts plans.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) offered just a 2 per cent pay rise from August and 1 per cent from May 2025.

This is despite retail price index inflation still running at 3.3 per cent, and the Scottish government’s latest public-sector pay policy setting a 3 per cent marker.

Unions unanimously rejected the real-terms pay cut, having already seen teachers’ real-terms pay slashed by 25 per cent since 2008.

Ahead of long-delayed pay talks resuming, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley warned unions were “committed to restoration” of real-terms pay to those 2008 levels.

She said: “Realistically we have to expect more when we consider the number of countries in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) that are paying above what Scotland is to experienced teachers, in the region of 23 to 25 countries are doing so, including Ireland and England.

“If we are going to properly recruit and retain teachers then we have to do something about pay, we simply can’t afford not to.”

The Scottish government was contacted for comment.