Three unions representing school support staff have called for a 10 per cent pay rise from April.
The unions - Unison, GMB and Unite - say the rise is essential as staff battle the cost-of-living crisis, real-term pay cuts and increasing job stress.
They are calling for a wage rise of £3,000 or 10 per cent, whichever is higher, for all council employees, including teaching assistants and catering staff.
The move comes after a survey last year found that nearly half of school support staff were looking for better-paid work because they were facing rising costs.
The three unions, representing 1.4 million council and school employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, called for the rise as they submitted their annual pay claim today.
GMB national officer Sharon Wilde said that “vital school support staff” had to be offered a “decent pay rise”.
“Members tell us their jobs have become even more stressful in the past year - they are really struggling to make ends meet in this cost-of-living crisis,” Ms Wilde added.
And she warned that “staff are being torn between leaving the job that they love or going to other sectors where the work is less stressful and the pay is better”.
School support staff ‘need better pay’
Special-school leaders previously warned that cuts to “critical” classroom support staff could lead to heads not being able to guarantee the safety of pupils and staff.
Mike Short, Unison head of local government, warned that “if staff don’t feel valued and can find better-paid work elsewhere, there will be no one to carry out these vital functions” and “everyone will be worse off”.
Meanwhile, Clare Keogh, Unite national officer, said that many union members are “reporting that they cannot pay their bills, they are struggling to pay their mortgage or rent costs, and some have even had to rely on food banks”.
A spokesperson for the National Employers, the local government body that decides on pay, said: “We will be consulting councils on the pay claim during March and they will respond to the unions in due course.”
Last year GMB and Unison accepted a flat pay rise of £1,925 backdated to April.
But it left headteachers’ leaders warning that the settlement was likely to “further exacerbate the funding pressures” that schools are facing.
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