A TEACHING strike planned for Thursday has been called off amid a war of words between a union and the council.

The NASUWT has accused Glasgow City Council of "aggressive" and "unreasonable" behaviour ahead of industrial action this week.

In return, council bosses called the impending strike a "surprise announcement" about issues over which it has no control.

The union has been organising a series of one-day strikes in a dispute over pay.

It had already put in place industrial action short of a strike, with members refusing to exceed their working hours or undertake administrative tasks.

Industrial action in Glasgow has been ongoing since 2011 with St Andrew's Secondary staff joining in 2012.

The union said it informed Maureen McKenna, executive director of education, of an escalation to strike action earlier this month.

Glasgow City Council asked for copies of letters sent from the union to it in 2011 and these were supplied on November 16.

On November 17 the council contacted the NASUWT to say legal action would be taken should teachers walk out on Thursday.

Chris Keates, NASUWT General Secretary, said: “Glasgow City Council has a track record of acting unreasonably and aggressively against trade unions, of disregarding the rights and working conditions of teachers and other public sector workers and using public money indefensibly to pursue legal action.

“In the light of the unspecified nature of the legal challenge being mounted by the Council, the NASUWT has a responsibility to ensure that the position of our members is protected fully and without knowing the grounds for the action it is impossible for us to establish this at this stage and in this timescale.

“In order to protect the interests of members and the integrity of the action, the NASUWT has therefore made the decision to withdraw Thursday’s action, whilst reserving the right to issue a further notice of escalated industrial action in due course. Action short of strike action remains in place.

“The Council should be ashamed of seeking to deny teachers their right to defend their terms and conditions of service.”

NASUWT has previously said the escalation to strike action was "driven by the significant financial detriment teachers have suffered as a result of six years of pay freezes and pay cuts".

The union said teachers had not received any pay award since April 2016 and the pay award for 2017/18 was more than six months overdue.

Teachers at St Andrew's Secondary School, Eastbank Academy and All Saints Secondary School should have been the first to strike on November 23.

The following week action is due to move on November 30 to Kirkintilloch High School, Lenzie Academy and Bearsden Academy in East Dunbartonshire.

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “We took advice on the legal nature of the action after the surprise announcement of a strike about national pay and conditions – something the council has no control over.”