Derby school support staff staged the first strike this morning in their latest round of action against contract changes that have seen some of them lose up to 25% of their wages.
Teaching assistants, school supervisors, admin staff and other support workers took strike action between 7am and 1pm today – and will repeat that every day this week.
This follows a two-day strike on 4 and 5 January, after UNISON members voted to reject a proposal from the council late last year, saying it would only compensate some of the workers losing out because of the changes.
UNISON represents around 1,200 support workers in the East Midlands city’s schools. Derby branch secretary Nicole Beresford told local media at the weekend that strike action would continue until a settlement is found.
“We want to get back around the negotiating table,” she said, adding that, if the council had been prepared to restart talks last week, this week’s action would not have happened.
