teaching assistants strike
WORKERS, JAN 2005 ISSUE
An overwhelming majority (over 90%) of school teaching assistants (TAs) in Brighton & Hove, members of both Unison and the GMB, voted to strike over the local council's proposed pay and grading offer in November. This follows lengthy negotiations between the council and the unions under the single status agreement. Originally the agreement was to discuss a fair appraisal and re-grading of this group of staff. But the council decided to introduce a reduction in paid weeks worked — a long-standing issue for non-qualified support staff in schools — after the grading and negotiation process had begun and without consulting either union. The effect was to nullify the pay rises resulting from the re-grading, as TAs would not be paid during school holidays.
Members of GMB and Unison march to council headquarters in Brighton during strike action on 10 December
This led to two initial full days of strike action on 25 and 26 November. All special schools in the city and a significant number of primary schools had to close and, despite the disruption caused and the council's entirely inaccurate press releases, parents and local people in the main offered support to the TAs' dispute. There was a further strike day on 10 December, with the next scheduled for 6 January.
The council head of the Children, Families and Schools department also accused the unions of misinforming its members over the dispute and claiming 90% of TAs would be better off, despite their proposal to take away 5-7 weeks' wages for out-of-term times, something unions fought hard for in the first place and particularly unfair as there is no recourse to claiming any benefits for these periods. TAs attending the November meeting also spoke of some heads intimidating and bullying them and of one headmaster who had even asked them to "vote again on whether they wanted to strike"!
The TAs are firm in their wish to fight this issue, despite the council stating they are being duped into it by union officials. There is also a lot of support for them from members of other unions within the council. For better support and unity, stress should be placed on how this cut in hours is a cut in the quality of education. Concentration on the unfairness of the grading, or comparison with the chief executive's pay rise, will not get very far. There is also a need for union officials to avoid attacking teachers and other unions, especially since the NUT had encouraged members not to cross picket lines. The action continues.
