Education - Northern Ireland strikes
WORKERS, NOV 2007 ISSUE
Classroom assistant members of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance began a successful campaign on pay with a one-day strike on 26 September, then 3 days the following week and then on to indefinite strike the week after. All 26 special schools in NI were closed and all 3,000 NIPSA classroom assistants remained resolute and disciplined throughout.
After the first one-day strike the employers attempted to buy out their historic pay and conditions by finding another £15 million but this was rejected by angry classroom assistants. One of their major concerns was to retain recognition of their NVQ3 qualification to stop the employers deskilling this area of work.
The employers finally agreed to go to arbitration at the end of the week of all-out strike action. After intense negotiations the employers backed down from their intransigent position, and meetings took place across Northern Ireland on whether to suspend the strike while the negotiations went on. They voted to suspend action until 30 October to give the employers time to make a better offer. But only a much improved offer will stop further strike action after the half-term holiday.
A vital part of the classroom assistants' campaign has been a fight for proper funding of special needs education. Teachers in special schools supported this action by standing on the picket lines with the classroom assistants, recognising that this was their fight too. They too will soon have to take up the struggle for a properly funded service.