Term time only pay is morally wrong

Something very rare happened in the Senedd last Wednesday: agreement between politicians from different parties. They were united in the opinion that the wages of school support staff are scandalously low and term time only pay traps many in poverty.

Many Senedd Members quoted from UNISON’s report, Time to value school support staff. School support staff will likely feel a mixture of emotions: relief their voices are being heard, anger that society has not valued them more highly and a fiery determination not to let the new Welsh government off the hook.

That’s because despite the words of praise and gratitude in the debate, the Plaid administration hasn’t pledged action yet.

If all politicians agree term time only pay is a scandal, let’s not waste time. Welsh government could end it now, creating a Wales School Support Staff Negotiating Body (WSSSNB).

UNISON will pour all our energies into campaigning to make that a reality. For now, it’s important to recognise this remarkable debate and how the persistence of UNISON school support staff got us here. There’s no mistaking the momentum for action on term time only pay is with us.

Former Cabinet Secretary for Education, Lynne Neagle MS tabled the motion for debate calling on the Welsh government to act on term time only pay within its first year. She talked about how support staff are the glue that holds schools together and yet many were leaving for better pay in the local supermarket.

Seconding the motion, Paul Rock MS said the contribution of support staff in schools is vital.

Huw Thomas MS talked about how the role of support staff has become much more complex and new skills required.

Shav Taj MS explained that low pay is gender discrimination against the overwhelmingly female workforce and she warned of the danger of school staff in Wales being left behind if only colleagues in England benefit from a School Support Staff Negotiating Body.

UNISON will work hard to correct misguided interventions from two MSs who said that whilst action on pay was needed, it wasn’t any more urgent than improving workload issues, or that Wales doesn’t have the money to right the injustice now. This isn’t any comfort to support staff and their families struggling to make ends meet.

And Helen Jenner MS’s embarrassing intervention showed Reform fails to understand that the lives of school staff would be transformed by a WSSSNB. She branded it a ‘quango,’ and was later corrected by other MSs who explained that such a body would allow trade unions, employers and Welsh government to negotiate to improve wages and employment conditions of all school staff on a Wales-wide basis. Something we’ve never had before.

New Cabinet Minister for Education, Anna Brychan, acknowledged support staff are not fairly paid, and promised a Plaid government will stand up for them. But she didn’t promise action now to end term time only pay or create a WSSSNB.

As you’d expect, UNISON will continue to lead the campaign to correct the injustice of term time only pay. This debate didn’t happen by accident. School support workers have shaped our campaign and it’s their voices resonating now.

It was UNISON school members who determined how we should campaign in our all-Wales survey; the UNISON Cymru Schools Forum that pushed commissioning a report analysing the extent of in-work poverty; school workers who spoke so passionately at the report launch, persuading politicians and at TUC Cymru Congress, where we united the whole union movement behind our motion for an end to term time only pay. And it was lay schools members who spoke so eloquently to the Low Pay Commissioners in Swansea last year.

There is a moral duty on the Welsh government to lift people out of in-work poverty. It must create a Wales School Support Staff Negotiating Body to end term time only pay and address low wages as a matter of urgency. It should also look at insecure contracts, grade drift and career development, amongst other things.

UNISON Cymru will take the voices of support staff to the heart of government and we encourage members to become a champion for a Wales School Support Staff Body, in their workplace, spreading the word to colleagues. 

Join the campaign