All primary schools and nurseries in Glasgow will be closed for three days next month amid planned industrial action by union members.
Supplementary Supportive Learning (ASL) schools will also be closed on Tuesday 6th, Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th September.
The Unite members’ strike includes catering and cleaning staff, janitors and classroom assistants.
Secondary schools remain open, but there are no breakfast clubs, hot school meals or after-school care.
Glasgow City Council has written to parents and carers setting out the reasons for the decision.
It said it intends to make a direct payment to their bank accounts for all families entitled to free school meals to cover the three days.
Primary schools, kindergartens and ASL schools are scheduled to reopen on Friday 9 September.
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The council said the strike action would include “early-years staff, support for learning workers, escorts and administrative staff”.
Catering, janitors, cleaning services and school transition patrols will also be involved.
It added: “Our goal, as always, is to provide a safe environment for our staff and young people and to maintain continuity of learning where possible, but the scale of the action on this occasion means we had to make the decision, everyone to close the city’s elementary schools, early childhood education and childcare facilities, and ASL schools.”
Secondary schools remain open, but with the following restrictions:
- No breakfast club or mid-morning snacks
- School meals are a packed lunch – students who do not receive a free school meal should bring their own lunch
- no after-school care, since all school holidays are cancelled
Glasgow is the first councilor to announce school closures, but the industrial action is also expected to hit the following areas, with exact days varying between local authorities.
- Aberdeenshire
- Angus
- Clackmannanshire
- Dundee City
- East Renfrewshire
- Inverclyde
- Orkney
- North Lanarkshire
- Stirling
- South Lanarkshire
The industrial action by education services staff comes amid an ongoing dispute between Scotland’s waste and recycling staff.
Refuse workers in Edinburgh are in the middle of a two-week strike that has resulted in rubbish bins overflowing on the capital’s streets.
Workers in 13 other Scottish local authorities have also taken industrial action, with further strikes scheduled between September 6 and 13 in more than 20 local authorities.
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