School workers descend on Westminster

Released 11/02/2011

Teaching assistants, school cleaners and caretakers protest the abolition of the Schools Support Staff Negotiating Body

School workers down their tools and take on their MPs

Teaching assistants, school cleaners and caretakers travelled to Westminster from across the country on Wednesday, to lobby their MPs over the abolition of the Schools Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB), set up to give school workers fair pay and conditions.

The action, part of a joint union campaign, also saw school workers outline their concerns over the education bill, currently making its way through parliament.

UNISON head of education, Christina McAnea, said: "School support staff are being hit from all sides, with pay freezes and job cuts. Adding insult to injury, school support staff are doubly insulted by abolition of their negotiating body in two bills going through parliament. Scrapping the SSSNB is a huge backwards step, and shows the education secretary's ignorance of why it was established in the first place.

"The education bill paves the way for a complete break up of our education system. School workers have real concerns over plans to increase charges for nursery places, to cut the role of local councils in education, and to encourage the growth of academies. MPs will get this message loud and clear today, and it's time the Tory-led coalition started to listen."

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