TEACHERS across Scotland have been urged to vote for strike action as unions demand Holyrood take action over “excessive” workloads.

EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley made the call after a survey showed 44 per cent of the education union’s members regularly worked the equivalent of an extra day a week without pay.

Launching a ballot for industrial action today at the union’s annual general meeting in Aviemore, Ms Bradley said: “This is an opportunity for our members to send a clear message to their employers and the Scottish government of the need to honour the commitments to tackle excessive teacher workload by reducing weekly class contact time.”

The Scottish government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) had pledged to cut class contact time by 1.5 hours a week, but four years on, no progress has been made.

“Only sending a strong and clear message will compel the Scottish government and Cosla to finally take action to tackle teacher workload,” Ms Bradley said.

EIS has joined the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), which is preparing a consultative survey on the same issue in a bid to force action from ministers.

SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said: “The reduction of class contact time is a small step in addressing teacher workload and the employers have failed to acknowledge the importance of the 90 minutes to teachers.

“SSTA members have reached the end of their patience and now have no option but to resort to taking strike action to force the employers to implement a real benefit for hard-pressed secondary school teachers.

“To get to this point shows a lack of respect and understanding by the employers of the challenges teachers are facing to deliver education.”

A Scottish government spokesperson responded that it “will continue to work with unions and Cosla to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time, which ultimately requires agreement from the whole Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers.”

A Cosla spokesperson added: “There has to be a recognition that achieving the reduction in class contact time by maintaining teacher numbers as pupil numbers gradually decline is a challenge and will take time.

“In addition, councils will have to consider how to maintain other statutory services as the proportion of the salary bill required for teachers increases.”