Cathedral Schools Trust staff to strike over back pay

Support staff working for Cathedral Schools Trust will strike next month in a dispute over pay, says UNISON today (Thursday).

Teaching assistants, administrators, librarians, finance officers, caretakers, and caterers will walk out at schools across Bristol and North Somerset on Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 November.

The strike follows a ballot in which 92% of staff backed industrial action.

The workers have been missing out on hundreds of pounds every year because of their employer’s failure to implement annual pay awards when they are announced in April, says the union.

Instead, Cathedral Schools Trust has delayed these payments until the start of the school term in September, leaving staff without several months’ worth of pay increases compared to colleagues in other schools, UNISON says.

Although the trust implemented the pay rise when it was due in April this year for the first time, in line with other schools, it doesn’t make up for the many years in which staff were underpaid, the union adds.

Staff are now demanding five years of back pay.

UNISON South West regional secretary Kerry Baigent said: “School support staff are the backbone of the education system. They support children’s learning and wellbeing every day.

“At long last, these workers have had a pay rise that’s been implemented on time, but that doesn’t undo the damage of the past. Staff have already lost thousands of pounds through delayed awards year after year.

“The trust must do the right thing and pay the money back, so staff get the reward and respect they deserve.”

Teaching assistant Stephen, who works at St Werburgh’s Primary School, said: “Without the vital contribution of staff such as teaching assistants, mentors and office teams, schools in the trust simply couldn’t run.

“Their support is essential if children are to thrive. If the trust really values and respects the hard work and commitment of its staff, it must act now.”