Unite warns that if there is nothing on the table for a pay and grading review, further strike action is a certainty.

Unite the union has written to finance minister Caoimhe Archibald to clarify whether her £688 million public sector pay package makes any provision for a six-year overdue pay and grading review sought by striking education workers. The union warned that if there was nothing on the table for low-paid school support staff responsible for the care and safety of special educational needs (SEN) children then a return to strike action was a certainty.

The union represents education workers across a variety of low-paid positions including classroom assistants, bus drivers, bus escorts, catering, admin and other school support staff. Pay rates in 2023-24 for workers who provide personal care to SEN children, including on occasion having to conduct medical and life-saving procedures, can be as low as £11.92 an hour. A recent Unite survey highlighted the huge financial pressures resulting from poor pay.

In 2018 the UK-wide NJC pay body instructed a pay and grading review to be delivered to address the mismatch between responsibilities and pay as well as equality concerns for the overwhelmingly female workforce. In the intervening six years consecutive Stormont executives have failed to deliver this review. Education workers in Unite, have been forced to take strike action repeatedly with the aim of securing funding needed for the pay and grading review, to help address low pay, retention issues and the associated staffing crisis.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham warned “School support workers were hopeful that the new Stormont executive would progress the long delayed pay and grading review but after weeks of uncertainty there are now growing fears that the funding needed has not been allocated. We need immediate clarity from the finance minister on whether she has provided anything to resolve the dispute of school support staff.

“If she hasnot, it will be a slap in the face for education workers; many of whom have onerous responsibilities for the care of SEN children. Once again, they will be left with no alternative but to return to the picket lines to secure fair pay, respect and to defend a vital public service.”

Kieran Ellison is lead regional officer for Unite in education, he said: “Our members in education have been striking to secure progress on low pay and the staffing crisis. How many times have school support staff called off their industrial action in the hope of advancing things through negotiations and avoiding disrupting the lives of SEN children?

“The pay and grading review they seek is vital to ensure that workers with the day-to-day care for SEN children are properly valued. It is a first step to tackle the staffing crisis which has pushed the workforce to breaking point, is impacting services and compromising children’s safety. 

“If the finance minister has put nothing on the table that cannot be tolerated and a return to strike action will be a certainty. Our members are determined to make a stand to win respect and defend the education of our most vulnerable.”

Note for editors: More than 500 Unite members employed by the Education Authority participated in a wide-ranging survey the union conducted with a focus on the impact of low pay, workplace pressures, staffing levels and care. More than half (52 per cent) indicated that they had struggled to afford utility bills, 35 per cent had struggled to afford basics such as food and clothing, 47 per cent had relied on family and friends for financial support and 32 per cent had to use a credit card to buy the weekly food shop. More than one in three (36 per cent) said that they had to take on another job to get by and 5 percent said they worked two or more other jobs.

Further results of the survey are available here https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2024/february/further-strike-action-unavoidable-unless-budget-addresses-low-pay-crisis-in-northern-ireland-school-support-staffing