It was cold in Derby on the picket line this morning, but the striking teaching assistants and school support staff could not have been warmer.
Their dedication to their work and their community is obvious and powerful, and yet the way they have been treated by their employer – a Labour council – is appalling.
I’ve written here before about the treatment they face, the cuts to their wages that have driven many of them into debt and the determination of these women to win this dispute and get back to helping the children of their community.
But their energy and passion can’t and shouldn’t be overstated.
And their fighting spirit against a council which has slashed wages by up to £6,000 and cut their hours is incredible.
School support staff were already on a low wage (£21,000) before the council decided to make them work longer for less. This callous decision is already putting an unbearable strain on family budgets.
The way staff here – and in Durham and elsewhere – are being treated is an absolute disgrace. They deserve so much better than to be pushed into poverty by a Labour council.
We’ll continue to fight for and alongside striking staff in Derby to win them the pay deal they deserve. And I want to see Durham teaching assistants voting for strike action too, so we can show their local council the strength of feeling wherever vital public servants like teaching assistants are mistreated.
Later this morning, I’ll be out on the doorstep with Derby school staff, leafleting members of the public in Boulton – where the leader of Derby Council is a councillor.
I know that the people of Derby share the deep sense of injustice that we all feel about slashing the wages of those who care for and educate our kids.
And I hope they’ll join us in our fight to show Derby council – and politicians elsewhere – that the low paid deserve a better deal, and are willing to stand up for themselves in the face of intolerable attacks.