UNISON is at the forefront of work on exciting new legislation for school support staff in England. We’re working with the government to create a new negotiating body which will decide pay, terms and conditions for school support staff, as well as taking a new approach to staff training and development.
What is the new deal?
Labour have committed to restoring the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB). At the moment, the majority of school support staff are covered by the same negotiating body as council workers (the National Joint Council or NJC). The SSSNB will be a negotiating body that only talks about school support staff, which means that we can focus on issues that really affect staff working in schools.
The new negotiating body will cover pay, terms and conditions, and access to training for school support staff.
Will my school be included?
The SSSNB will include all types of state-funded schools, including academies and schools within multi academy trusts. This means that all school support staff will benefit from the same pay and conditions; academies will no longer be able to opt-out of paying nationally negotiated rates of pay.
How is UNISON involved?
Elected representatives from UNISON’s National Schools Committee are currently involved in discussions with the Department for Education, the other recognised support staff trade unions (GMB and Unite) and employer representatives about the detail of the SSSNB. These groups are making important decisions such as the composition of the body, how negotiations will work, and transition arrangements for school support staff when the SSSNB comes into being.
When the negotiating body is launched, UNISON will sit on the trade union side and so will bring the views of UNISON members to the table. As the union with the most schools members, we will have the largest number of representatives on the trade union side of the SSSNB.
Which trade unions are involved?
There are only three recognised trade unions for school support staff: UNISON, GMB and Unite. These will be the only three unions that sit on the new negotiating body. Please note that the NEU are not part of this process and are not able to negotiate pay for school support staff.
I work for an academy and I’ve heard that the SSSNB will mean my pay is cut. Is this true?
No, this is not true. UNISON has been a key campaigner in making the SSSNB part of the current government’s policy, and we would never advocate for any policy that would lead to some people being paid less or seeing a cut to their rights at work. We have obtained a guarantee that the transfer to the SSSNB will be on the basis of ‘no detriment’ – in other words members will keep all of their existing pay, terms and conditions. We will then use the SSSNB to campaign and negotiate for improvements.
The SSSNB will give support staff a voice and will be a vehicle to increase fairness in pay and conditions for support staff across the board. In our talks with ministers and government officials, we are making it clear that we want to see national contracts that offer a base level of terms and conditions for all staff, on top of which multi-academy trusts can offer more if they choose.
Get involved
Winning the best possible new deal will need a strong collective voice for all school support staff.
UNISON is building a network of school support staff champions across all schools to:
- Receive new deal updates from UNISON to share with colleagues
- Encourage colleagues to support UNISON activity for a new deal
- Remain in contact with your UNISON branch on school support staff issues
If you’re not already a member, join UNISON now to be part of the new deal for school support staff!
The implications of the SSSNB for UNISON’s structures
A report has been produced, exploring the potential implications of the SSSNB for UNISON’s own structures, and making some recommendations. It is hoped that this report will be debated at UNISON’s Local Government Conference in June.
Read the report – the structural implications of the SSSNB
