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the Public Service Union

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UNISON in the Wokingham District

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Pay Matters

Your pay and other matters

UNISON is the largest trade union for staff in schools and local authority education departments - members include teaching assistants, nursery staff, administrators, secretaries, technicians, cleaners, caretakers, school meals workers - in fact anyone working in schools or supporting education. The union is campaigning to make sure the vital contribution these staff make to schools and education is recognised and rewarded by calling for:

Better pay and conditions
Improved career structures
Access to training and development
Fair treatment for term-time, part-time and temporary staff
High quality, well-resourced education services accountable to the local community

If you aren’t already a member of UNISON now is the time to join – to find out more ask your school steward – Chris Herd - or phone UNISON Direct on 0845 355 0845

Pay offer 2008-9

The employers’ pay offer - 2008-9 for a 2.45% increase on all grades from scale point 7, with an additional £100 flat rate increase on scale points 4, 5 and 6, giving people on those points a 3.3% rise - has been rejected. This means that members will be balloted to decide whether they want to take industrial action. Unless there is a high turnout and a clear mandate for strike action, the employers will not even re-open negotiations – let alone improve on their offer.

If members vote Yes to industrial action, that is likely to start with a two-day all-out strike in early July, and be followed by further and escalating action, involving strikes of more than two days.

I know that members at Addington have had concerns in the past about strike action and the impact that it could have on the children but UNISON does not take the decision to ballot for strike action lightly. However 2.45% (or 3.3% for the lowest paid) is below inflation and that is not enough for your pay to keep up with increases in food, fuel and other living costs. That is why we need as many members as possible to vote so that we have a very clear idea of members’ wishes and can organise effective action if members say ‘yes’.

Your employers will be notified by the union of our intention to ballot members around 23 May and the ballot papers will be despatched to members on 30 May. The closing date for the ballot will be 20 June. If there is a ‘yes’ vote the first two consecutive days of action will take place in the first 3 weeks of July (exact dates to be confirmed soon).

New Negotiating Body for School Staff

Just over a week ago schools minister Jim Knight spoke at a UNISON schools seminar in London and confirmed that a new national negotiating body for school support staff will be in place by September. This new body will provide national guidelines for pay and conditions.

UNISON’s head of education, Christina McAnea, confirmed that this is a crucial step towards fair pay for schools staff. She said that the efforts of schools staff have been undervalued for too long, and that UNISON has campaigned long and hard for a fair system to recognise the very positive contribution made by schools support staff. She pointed out that the government’s plans for extended children’s services will depend on schools support staff and to make this work there will need to be fair and equitable pay and a robust training and career structure to apply in all schools. The setting up of a national negotiating body for schools staff is a crucial step in this direction. UNISON will bring you more news about these proposals as they are developed.

Extended Services in Schools

By 2010 all schools will be expected to provide or allow access to extended services. Extended school activities include breakfast, after school study support and holiday clubs, providing support for family learning and offering access to ICT equipment outside school hours. In addition, many primary schools will have children’s centres attached to them in order to provide a range of services for children under five and their families.

All this has major implications for the staffing of these services. Whilst extra activities in schools offer opportunities to those staff who want to extend their contracted hours or to develop their careers in new directions, headteachers cannot expect staff to automatically take on enhanced or extended roles or additional hours. Staff are under no obligation to take on new responsibilities outside school hours.

UNISON is clear that any changes to contracts should only be made after detailed consultation and with the agreement of the person taking on additional responsibilities in the extended school programme. This affects premises staff as much as cleaners – changes in hours or rotas must be done in agreement with the staff concerned. Some schools are cutting ‘core’ hours for teaching assistants and are offering casual add-ons in the “twilight shifts” of breakfast and after school clubs. That means pay arrangements are often arbitrary and the hours worked are not being counted towards pensions.

UNISON believes that extended services delivered like this are unacceptable for staff and will have knock-on effects on service quality and sustainability. UNISON will continue to raise these issues at national and local level. By becoming a member of UNISON you will have access to our support and advice.

Contact:

office@wokinghamunison.org.uk
www.wokinghamUNISON.org.uk
www.unison.org.uk

Supporting schools staff

(23/05/07) School support staff can look forward to a fairer deal in future.

Schools minister Jim Knight today heralded the development of a new national negotiating body for school staff in England, which will in turn develop a national pay and grading system.

UNISON has welcomed the announcement, the outcome of year-long negotiations.

"Pay for many school workers does not in any way reflect the job they do and is determined almost at the whim of the head teacher," said UNISON national education secretary Christina McAnea.

"This is a major step forward in UNISON's campaign for a fair and consistent pay structure for school staff that recognises and rewards their vital role in education."

Building Schools for the Future

(but maybe not your future!)

This government initiative will bring radical changes to education, schools and how people are employed.

One of the first areas that this has been introduced is in Newcastle.

The material on UNISON Northern Region's web site is well worth reading