Staff in local authority schools, nurseries and nursery schools have been campaigning for more than two years to have their jobs regraded and their salaries brought into line with nursery nurses in nearby boroughs. The council has not yet come up with a revised job description or pay proposals.
While nursery nurses in Greenwich are paid according to local authority pay scale 3 - 15,500 to 16,488 per year - their counterparts in Tower Hamlets, Lewisham and Southwark are paid on scale 5, which ranges from Pounds 18,963 to 20,649 a year. Nursery nurses in Greenwich work 32.5 hours a week and have school holidays.
Public sector union Unison said that its nursery nurse members are now so frustrated with the ongoing dispute they are prepared to strike.
Unison branch secretary Onay Kasab said, 'The council has been extremely slow in responding. At the end of last year, the nursery nurse members said they would like to be balloted for industrial action. They've been waiting long enough. Many of them are thinking, "Why should I stay in Greenwich, when I can get paid higher elsewhere?"
'The job has changed so dramatically. Their job description and grading do not recognise the role they are carrying out.'
As well as assisting teachers, all schools in Greenwich are now inclusive, so that nursery nurses also work with children who have special needs.
In addition to lower salaries, Mr Kasab said that nursery nurses in Greenwich, which is deemed an inner London borough, are paid lower London weighting allowances than teachers working in the same schools.
Although teachers are paid inner London weighting in addition to their salaries, nursery nurses are paid the outer London rate.
In July last year, Unison worked with the nursery nurses to carry out a job evaluation of their role according to the local authority's policies and procedures.
Mr Kasab said, 'We hoped the employer would do something, but it didn't, so last summer we started to put the job description together.'
He said the revised job description that had been drawn up would put nursery nurses on local government scale 5, comparable with nursery nurses'
earnings in neighbouring London boroughs.
A spokesperson for Greenwich council said, 'The council has met with Unison and we have placed the issue on the agenda of the Schools Forum meeting on 16 January. We will meet with Unison again after this date and hope we are able to resolve this issue. We are aiming to recommend to schools that they implement changes in job descriptions, pay and terms and conditions from 1 March. As any pay increase will affect school budgets, the council can make recommendations, but it is up to each individual governing body whether they wish to implement our recommendations.'
Mr Kasab said that he was concerned that the Schools Forum lacked 'teeth'
and would not be able to fully address the issue.
Unison is due to meet with the local education authority on 17 January. Mr Kasab said that depending on the outcome of that meeting, nursery nurses could be balloted for industrial action.
He added, 'It very much depends what happens on the 17th. The first job is to get them to agree the job description and grade.'
He said that the union is also seeking for the pay and grading claim to be backdated, but is prepared to negotiate the implementation date.
