North
Victory to the Classroom Assistants!

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The Socialist

The classroom assistants’ magnificent strike against attacks on their pay and conditions and cuts in children’s education has continued to win the support of the vast majority of people, including of those parents whose children are affected by the strike.

This is despite an avalanche of propaganda from the education & library boards, from the mainstream media and from the Assembly Executive. For nearly 13 years, classroom assistants have been denied their job evaluation payments, which they are fully entitled to. In effect, the Department of Education and the education and library boards have stolen this money from classroom assistants.

In June, the Minister for Education, Caitriona Ruane, offered to pay classroom assistants what money they were owed, but only if they gave up their historic terms & conditions by agreeing to cut their pay, removing the special needs allowance and removing the minimum NVQ level three qualification, which guarantees basic standards for the job. This would amount to up to 18.5% cut in pay for classroom assistants and a severe downgrading of the job.

But it is not just Ruane who is the culprit. All the parties in the Assembly Executive are backing her up 100% in her refusal to attack classroom assistants’ pay and conditions. An insulting ‘offer’ was made at recent negotiations from the Minister for Finance Peter Robinson to try and settle this inconvenient dispute which is embarrassing the politicians in Stormont. It was correctly rejected. In September, a motion supporting the classroom assistants was defeated in the Assembly. The DUP, Sinn Fein, UUP, SDLP and Alliance refused to support it. In fact all these parties have sat on the Education and Library Boards and have refused to pay the classroom assistants what they are owed.

It is unfortunate that the leaderships of the other unions involved have failed to come out and support the strike action. They have in some cases disgracefully played an openly strikebreaking role. It has been the classroom assistants themselves, assisted by socialists and other left activists in NIPSA, which have forced their union into taking action. Instead of organising and supporting workers to defend their conditions against attacks from the Assembly, the majority of trade union leaders want to build a friendly relationship with the right-wing parties in the Assembly. The Socialist Party believes classroom assistants together with workers in all other unions need to get organised to build a fighting opposition within the trade union movement which campaigns to replace the right-wing leaders with a left leadership, not on the big salaries the current union leaders take home, but who live on the average wages of the members, are accountable to the members and who will act in the interests of the members.

Alongside this, must be a campaign to build a political alternative to the right-wing sectarian parties in Stormont. The Assembly Executive has only started to implement its attacks on working class people. More groups of workers like the medical secretaries in Altnagelvin hospital in Derry will be forced to struggle against the Assembly. The Socialist Party believes a party based on workers, the unemployed and youth must be built which can fight the Executive’s attacks and fight for a socialist alternative to the capitalist model the politicians support.

North
United action can defeat Assembly's attack

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Ciaran Mulholland

As the classroom assistants strike action resumes NIPSA must target the Assembly and in particular the DUP and Sinn Fein who dominate the executive, to force them to back down from their attack on these workers’ rights.

Over 3,000 classroom assistants are taking strike action in defence of their basic wages and conditions.

The Education Boards, the Assembly, the Executive and the Education Minister Caitriona Ruane are behind proposals to reduce assistants’ hourly pay rates by up to 18.5% and by removing the Special Needs Allowance paid to some classroom assistants. The proposal also ignores the NVQ qualifications which many assistants hold.

NIPSA members rejected the proposal in a secret ballot and returned a massive 93.4% vote for strike action. A one-off average payment has been offered in order to entice assistants to accept the proposal. This one-off payment would cover losses for 12 months only. NIPSA members have overwhelmingly rejected this enticement in a series of mass meetings. 

Strike action was temporarily suspended on 15 October to allow negotiations. Ten days of strike action up to that date had forced the employers to return to the negotiating table and to accept that the 32.5 hour week, the Special Needs Allowance and recognition of the NVQ Level Three qualification were historic terms and conditions which could only be negotiated away. Until that point management had refused to accept this and intended to impose pay cuts and downgrading.

 Management made no attempt to meet the demands of the classroom assistants in the talks however and at mass meetings members once again rejected the offer and voted to resume action.  

A renewed determined strike can win. The classroom assistants are supported by the overwhelming majority of working class and young people. NIPSA represents many more assistants than all the other unions put together.

Now all classroom assistants should get organised and join the action. NIPSA activists should strive to win over unorganised assistants and engage with those who belong to other unions to join the picket lines. NIPSA activists should also go to teachers and other education workers and ask for their support. The support of parents, other education workers, young people and the wider working class should be mobilised through demonstrations, pickets, days of action, street collections and the formation of support groups.

For the moment members have decided on a strategy of two days strike action every week between now and Christmas. The Minister and the Assembly should be directly targeted through protests and pickets. It may be necessary to escalate the action further however if it is to be successful. The question of escalation, including a return to all-out action, must be kept on the agenda.

A negotiating committee made up of representatives from the five Boards which is democratically accountable to classroom assistants should be established to control all negotiations. This is a vital dispute.  It is time for all workers to stand behind the classroom assistants.

Politicians to blame

The Assembly parties have direct control over the terms and conditions of the assistants but pretend otherwise.

The main parties not only hold the purse strings in the Assembly but also are the employers through their seats on the Education and Library Boards.  Not one of the main parties has been prepared to use their position on the Boards or in the Assembly to back the classroom assistants. Instead of ‘lobbying’ the right-wing parties in the Assembly, the unions should support the building of a party which represents the interests of workers, the unemployed & youth and challenges the Assembly Executive’s agenda of attacks on workers conditions, cuts and privatisation of public services. Such a political challenge would be a great source of strength for all workers involved in struggles.

Solidarity dead amongst leading union officials

Since the strike ballot result was announced NIPSA has recruited over 1000 classroom assistants, bringing its membership up to 3100.

The new members joined because they wanted to join the action. The fighting determination of NIPSA members stands in marked contrast to the role of the leadership of other unions which represent small minorities of classroom assistants.

Unison’s leadership publicly accepted the June deal but then had to rapidly backtrack. They held a consultation with their members during the summer which returned strong support for action.  The consultation ended on 28 August but instead of starting a ballot for industrial action at that time they have delayed repeatedly. The ATL and GMB unions in particular have not acted to further the interests of the classroom assistants either. Eamonn Coy, a GMB official, has played an open and strident strike breaking role. Officials of other unions, including T&GWU (Unite), have been less strident but have also acted to undermine the strike.The truth is that a number of union officials are completely onside as far as management are concerned. The elemental position that workers in struggle should be supported has been abandoned. Without the role of a number of union bureaucrats the employers would have been forced to make serious concessions by now.

Management attack the Socialist Party

There have been a number of attacks on the role of Socialist Party members in the classroom assistants’ dispute. Socialist Party members have been heavily involved in this dispute. We have always been open about our involvement, are democratic in our approach and have publicly campaigned to build support for classroom assistants.

Socialist Party members have over many years strengthened NIPSA classroom assistants position. NIPSA Branch 517, in which Socialist Party members and other left activists play a decisive role, has recruited 79% of local assistants and has involved them in building the strike at every point. General members meetings bring all classroom assistants together to discuss and vote on key developments. Five area Strike Committees have been organised in the Board area.  At meetings of the Committees reports are given on latest developments and local activity is decided upon.

This is a model for how the dispute should be run in every area. We reject any attempt to weaken the dispute by targeting Socialist Party members and are prepared to be judged on our record in this struggle.

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