UNISON warns government that threats to axe school body could lead to strike action

UNISON will be consulting members on industrial action and demanding the government carry out an Equality Impact Assessment over leaked threats to axe the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB).The UK’s largest public sector union is outraged at the possible removal of the body, which took years to set up. The body was designed to bring fairness and consistency to the pay of half a million workers in English schools, including teaching assistants, special needs staff, nursery nurses, school secretaries, caretakers, technicians and dinner ladies.Christina McAnea, UNISON’s Head of Education and lead negotiator, said: “This displays the utter contempt this coalition government has for low paid workers, trade unions and in particular for the staff in schools delivering essential education services. We have been asking them since May to talk to us about this. "They say publicly they want to maintain an education partnership with all the unions representing school staff, yet we hear this news through the media. "School support staff are predominantly low paid women who are committed and passionate about their job and this government demonstrates their utter contempt for them by refusing to even meet the unions to discuss this. “If these threats become a reality UNISON will consult its members on industrial action and demand that the government carry out an Equality Impact Assessment. “This news comes on top of a pay freeze this year, which the government wants to see imposed for a further 2 years. George Osborne and Danny Alexander make much of their pledge that those earning under £21,000 will get a flat rate increase of £250 for each year of the pay freeze, but this is nothing less than an outright lie as they will not guarantee this for school staff. If school staff aren’t public sector workers I don’t know who is. “Local Authorities are facing equal pay claims of hundreds of million pounds from school staff and the SSSNB was set up to help bring fairness and consistency as well as local flexibility into pay in schools. Now they face years and huge expense battling this out in courts.”