Union launches drive for school support staff to secure permanent jobs

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Unite the union NI
Sharon Graham meeting striking school support workers

Action follows commitment from Northern Ireland education minister Paul Givan that he will ask education authority to process requests for permanent contracts “as quickly as possible”

Unite is encouraging all its school support workers working on a temporary engagement forms for more than four years to formally request a permanent employment contract. Unite’s drive follows receipt of communication from education minister Paul Givan in which he said he would “ask the EA to ensure such requests are processed as quickly as possible”.

The commitment follows Unite making public official department of education figures which confirmed that 2,727 workers employed through ‘temporary employment forms’ were in place for four or more years. The minister clarified he would comply with the terms of the Northern Ireland Executive’s own fixed term workers regulations and stated “any temporary staff who have accrued four years of service can contact the EA to request that their contract be made permanent”.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “Unite has spearheaded the campaign to demand action on this disgraceful situation. It is completely unacceptable that temporary employment has become the norm for the employment of school support staff in Northern Ireland. It is grossly unfair and leaves workers facing long-term job insecurity and struggling to obtain loans or mortgages.

“This commitment by the education minister is welcome but long overdue.”

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Spirit Aerosystems sale: Government must create joint venture to save jobs

Posted on June 1, 2025 by Unite the union NI

Unite warns Spirit break-up would threaten NI aerospace sector

Union seeks urgent meeting with business and trade ministers to chart way forward

Unite has written to both secretary of state Jonathan Reynolds MP and minister of state for business Sarah Jones MP seeking an urgent meeting over the future of Spirit Aerosystems. Over 3,700 workers at the company’s five sites in Northern Ireland face growing uncertainty following the Boeing takeover of Spirit globally.

The decision by Airbus to take on only those production lines in its own supply chain threatens an immediate break-up of the company. A loss of economies of scale and the fragmenting of production lines that poses a risk to the long-term future of aerospace in Northern Ireland and the highly skilled jobs in the sector.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “The workforce of Shorts and later Spirit Aerosystems in Belfast, has been an essential asset for the UK aerospace sector for over 100 years. Keeping these workers and their skills together in one place is vital for the future of the industry in Northern Ireland and the UK.

The government now needs to step up to the plate and make sure that is what happens. Potential buyers must not be allowed to break up the site and instead should be working on a joint venture that will protect jobs and safeguard the future of the aerospace sector in Northern Ireland.

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Pay for Northern Ireland health workers must keep pace with rest of NHS

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Unite the union NI

Proposed increase doesn’t resolve long-term problems faced by HSC workers with staff shortages and cuts creating a toxic environment

Unite has warned that the government’s pay proposal for NHS staff still fails to address the long-term issues of low pay and staff cuts which is threatening the future of the service. 

The Pay Review Body (PRB) which proposes pay increases for NHS workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has recommended a 3.6 per cent rise for 2025-26 and this has now been offered by the government to NHS workers in England. The increase is below both the rate of inflation (RPI) which is currently running at 4.5 per cent as well as the increase accepted by NHS staff in Scotland. 

The increase will fail to reverse the lost decade of pay freezes and below inflation increases which have resulted in NHS staff struggling with the cost-of-living and a staffing crisis.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Low pay is perpetuating the massive NHS recruitment and retention crisis which is putting an unbearable strain on both staff and services. This combined with large cuts in staffing means many NHS workers are already at breaking point.

“If the government is ever going to resolve the NHS crisis it will need to stop kicking the can down the road. It needs to get Unite and the other NHS unions round the negotiating table, face to face and start making serious inroads on pay and other issues that are crippling our NHS.”

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Winter fuel: Stormont must ensure NI pensioners receive payments if Westminster fails to deliver 

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Unite the union NI

Unite to continue campaigning for full restoration of universal winter fuel payments

Following yesterday’s statement by prime minister Keir Starmer that the government plans to increase the number of pensioners eligible for the winter fuel payment, Unite has said Stormont must make sure no Northern Ireland pensioner loses out this winter.

The prime minister’s statement did not promise to fully restore the universal payment or commit to a timeframe.

The winter fuel payment was previously worth £200 a year to each pensioner. Following an active campaign by the Pensioner Convention and Unite, community minister Gordon Lyons moved to introduce a partial mitigation payment of £100 to affected households.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary said, ““Unite has always been clear that any and all cuts to winter fuel are simply picking the pockets of pensioners while the richest in society keep getting wealthier.

“The winter fuel decision should be fully reversed, and money should be found instead by implementing a wealth tax on the super-rich.”

Regional secretary for Unite Susan Fitzgerald said, “The announcement by Keir Starmer will offer some hope to pensioners but unfortunately the government has not committed to fully reverse its disgraceful policy. The Stormont executive must give an assurance that, even if Westminster fails to fully reverse the cuts or drags their feet, no pensioner in Northern Ireland will be left in the cold this winter.”

Unite continues to pursue a judicial review to overturn the government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments to all but the poorest pensioners. 

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Department of education statistics reveal nearly 15,000 low-paid education support workers on precarious temporary contracts

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Unite the union NI
Sharon Graham meets striking school support workers

More than 2,500 general and special needs classroom assistants are not moving to permanent contracts despite more than four years of service

Unite has called on education minister Paul Given to intervene to end precarious ‘temporary’ working among school support workers.

The union has made public (here) figures supplied to trade unions by the Education Authority which has revealed widespread reliance on temporary working for staff such as nursery, general and classroom assistants in schools. Many of those working under such poor practices do not receive pay during school holiday periods and have little job security from one year to the next.

Given the predominant female composition of the workforce, the union highlighted major concerns that women workers were being treated in a such a problematic manner.

More than two-thirds (14,930 of 21,815) of those working as assistants in schools are on temporary contracts. Reliance on precarious temporary workers is greatest among general assistants at 85 per cent. Twelve per cent of the total workforce were temporary workers despite having four years’ service. That figure includes more than 2,500 classroom assistants of whom more than 1,800 have responsibilities for Special Educational Needs children.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “These statistics reveal the widespread use of precarious temporary working practices for the recruitment of school support staff. The scale of this issue raises real questions about why a predominantly female workforce in our schools – including those with responsibilities for children with special educational needs – are being treated so poorly by a public body.”

Unite regional officer Kieran Ellison added: “In previous months Unite revealed the extent of reliance on school support staffing by those without relevant qualifications or even child safety checks being in place. This latest evidence now shows the long term and widespread use of temporary workers in the sector. That more than 2,500 classroom assistants – including more than 1,800 special educational needs classroom assistants – find themselves still in precarious temporary work despite having four years of service is disgraceful. Unite is calling on education minister Paul Given to intervene quickly to end this unfair treatment of low paid school support workers.”

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