Dumfries and Galloway Council urged to give better warning before school closures
It comes as UNISON announces another day of strike action next month
Last updated 26th Oct 2023
Dumfries and Galloway Council are being urged to give early notice of any school closures after UNISON announced further strike dates.
During the last round of walk outs, parents were given just one day of notice that schools would be closing, meaning many were unable to find alternative childcare.
The Labour Group are asking that alongside better notice, parents who cannot find childcare should be allowed to work from home during the next strike date on November 8.
Leader of the group, Councillor Archie Dryburgh, said: “Crucially the arrangements for both need to be communicated to parents and staff as soon as possible, and not at the last minute.
“I hope this strike date announcement focuses the minds of both council leaders and the Scottish Government that they need to urgently do more to find a settlement and avoid any strike action.”
"They need to urgently do more"
He added: “The council have been given adequate notice of strike action so the Labour Group will now be pressing for early decision on school closures so that parents can try and plan their childcare more appropriately than they did the last time.”
The council was criticised by both parents and trade unions after they originally announced schools would remain open during last month’s three-day strike action, only to backtrack just a day before the closures.
The move has been described as “shambolic” by the Labour Group, after the confusion it caused following a failure to implement national agreements for staff to work from home.
Councillor Dryburgh said: “What we seen the last time was that parents, and of course some teachers are parents as well, had to leave their children at home and go into the school classroom, only to be told an hour later that they could go home and work from home.”
"They need to get a grip this time"
He continued: “During the last strike the Tory led council leadership were posted missing. They need to get a grip this time.”
He stressed his wish for an agreement to be reached between unions and the government, however added: “Sadly their track record does not fill me with any hope that they will do so.”
A Dumfries and Galloway Council spokesperson said: "We will take some time to evaluate whether or not our schools and early learning centres can safely stay open, or whether we’ll need to close as a result of planned strike action on 8 November.
"Taking into account lessons learnt from the last round of strikes, and as our schools return from holiday on Monday next week, our position will be determined and shared immediately afterwards with parents and carers of arrangements in relation to any potential closures or disruption."