Nursery World - Staff strike closes schools

More than 160 schools across London closed for the day last Thursday as school support staff, including nursery nurses and classroom assistants, joined thousands of local government workers in a 24-hour strike. The action on 16 October by 58,000 members of the public services union Unison, as well as thousands of GMB and TGWU members who work in education, social services and environmental services, was in pursuit of a flat-rate 4,000 London weighting claim. It followed the withdrawal by the Greater London Provincial Council (GLPC) of a weighting offer of 201 for workers earning less than 14,800 a year.

The action on 16 October by 58,000 members of the public services union Unison, as well as thousands of GMB and TGWU members who work in education, social services and environmental services, was in pursuit of a flat-rate 4,000 London weighting claim. It followed the withdrawal by the Greater London Provincial Council (GLPC) of a weighting offer of 201 for workers earning less than 14,800 a year.

The GLPC said the money 'would have been in addition to the generous rise of between 7.7 and 11 per cent agreed last September'. But a Unison spokeswoman said it would have benefited only 40 per cent of the local government workforce.

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