More Equal Than Others
The Scottish government has announced a review of the McCrone Agreement - which gave Scottish teachers guarantees on pay and conditions back in 2001.
The deal cost the Scottish government (and taxpayers) over £800 million at the time - and this enormous figure became built into the base budget.
So if you want to know why the budget of Scottish councils doubled in the ten years to 1997 - and where this money went - part of the answer lies in the huge cost of things like the McCrone Agreement.
Now I'm all in favour of good conditions for council workers - including teachers.
But I don't agree that some workers - should be more equal than others - how can that be fair?
Some people have already called for Scottish teachers work longer hours - because at the moment they are required to teach for only 64% (22.5 hours) of their working week - the other 36% is reserved for lesson preparation.
And of course teachers are not required to be at work during the school holidays - which means they get more annual leave than anyone else - albeit at fixed periods during the year.
So a government review of the McCrone Agreement is both timely and sensible.
The pay and conditions of Scottish council workers should be set in a way that is fair to everyone - be they a part-time cleaner or the council's chief executive.
Giving preferential treatment to one group - teachers or anyone else - is simply ridiculous in this day and age.
The deal cost the Scottish government (and taxpayers) over £800 million at the time - and this enormous figure became built into the base budget.
So if you want to know why the budget of Scottish councils doubled in the ten years to 1997 - and where this money went - part of the answer lies in the huge cost of things like the McCrone Agreement.
Now I'm all in favour of good conditions for council workers - including teachers.
But I don't agree that some workers - should be more equal than others - how can that be fair?
Some people have already called for Scottish teachers work longer hours - because at the moment they are required to teach for only 64% (22.5 hours) of their working week - the other 36% is reserved for lesson preparation.
And of course teachers are not required to be at work during the school holidays - which means they get more annual leave than anyone else - albeit at fixed periods during the year.
So a government review of the McCrone Agreement is both timely and sensible.
The pay and conditions of Scottish council workers should be set in a way that is fair to everyone - be they a part-time cleaner or the council's chief executive.
Giving preferential treatment to one group - teachers or anyone else - is simply ridiculous in this day and age.
