{"id":247369,"date":"2026-06-09T12:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=247369"},"modified":"2026-06-10T11:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:54:37","slug":"unions-slam-lack-of-meaningful-progress-on-support-staff-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/unions-slam-lack-of-meaningful-progress-on-support-staff-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"Unions slam ‘lack of meaningful progress’ on support staff pay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unions representing school support staff have threatened the government with industrial action over a \u201clack of meaningful progress\u201d on improving pay.<\/p>\n

The leaders of GMB, Unison and Unite, which between them represent more than 500,000 education workers in England, have written<\/a> to education secretary Bridget Phillipson with concerns the remit of the new School Support Staff Negotiating Body<\/a> (SSSNB) will initially be \u201cvery limited\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gary Smith, Andrea Egan and Sharon Graham have also expressed fears a move to encourage all schools to join trusts comes \u201cat precisely the moment when a coherent national framework for school support staff remains absent\u201d.<\/p>\n

Unless there is \u201cmeaningful progress\u201d on pay, the unions \u201cwe will have no option but to escalate our response publicly and industrially\u201d, they said.<\/p>\n

Labour pledged in its election manifesto to re-establish the SSSNB. The body was developed under New Labour but scrapped by the coalition government.<\/p>\n

\"Bridget
Bridget Phillipson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In their letter, the union leaders called SSSNB \u201cour best and long overdue opportunity to address the deep-rooted inequalities, fragmentation, and inconsistency experienced by school support staff across England\u201d.<\/p>\n

“However, the pace and substance of negotiations to date are now placing that confidence at serious risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just last year, Phillipson wrote in Schools Week<\/em><\/a> that support staff “have been undervalued and denied professional respect for far too long”.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s time that they got the fair pay and the professional respect they deserve.”<\/p>\n

‘No progress’ on job evaluation work<\/h2>\n

But in their letter, the union leaders said that at a SSSNB working group meeting on 20 May, they were informed the remit for the body initially \u201cwould be very limited\u201d.<\/p>\n

The unions said they were told \u201cthere would be no progress\u201d on strand two of the SSSNB\u2019s work \u2013 a national approach to job evaluation and role profiles \u2013 \u201cwithin this Parliament\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis work must be an essential part of the SSSNB if it is to fulfil its goal of ensuring school support staff are fairly rewarded for the work they do,\u201d the leaders warned.<\/p>\n

Schools Week<\/em> understands there are also concerns that with the SSSNB due to formally start its work in the autumn, the unions won’t get a full year to negotiate pay for the 2027-28 financial year.<\/p>\n

At present, the pay of support staff in council-maintained schools is negotiated as part of the wider local government workforce process each year, though academies can deviate from the increases set.<\/p>\n

In their letter, the union leaders said their concerns \u201chave only intensified\u201d following publication of the government\u2019s schools white paper, \u201cwhich actively encourages further movement towards academy trust structures at precisely the moment when a coherent national framework for school support staff remains absent\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaken together, these developments risk undermining the very purpose for which the SSSNB was re-established. The continued expansion of academy trust structures, in the absence of a coherent national framework for school support staff, risks accelerating workforce fragmentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A DfE spokesperson said support staff “are the backbone of our schools, and without our teaching assistants, technicians, admin staff and others \u2013 schools cannot function.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why we legislated within the first 100 days of this government to establish the School Support Staff Negotiating Body \u2013 to give school support staff the recognition they deserve and ensure they are supported and rewarded to deliver an excellent education, so every child can achieve and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department added that it was preparing to publish the government’s response to the consultation on setting up the SSSNB and expect the body “to be established in autumn 2026”.<\/p>\n

Industrial action threat<\/h2>\n

The unions are calling for a \u201cclear commitment\u201d that staff will transfer into the SSSNB with their \u201cfull existing pay spine and pay structure protected\u201d. They also want \u201cimmediate commencement\u201d of the SSSNB\u2019s work on job evaluation and role profiles.<\/p>\n

Leaders are also calling for \u201cassurances that recognised trade unions are fully and meaningfully involved in all decision-making processes relating to the future framework\u201d.<\/p>\n

Unions said they remained \u201ccommitted to constructive engagement and would strongly prefer to resolve these issues through meaningful progress and genuine partnership with government.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the current trajectory is rapidly exhausting the goodwill that existed when the SSSNB was re-established.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould meaningful progress continue to be absent, we will have no option but to escalate our response publicly and industrially, including at upcoming conferences over the summer period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are therefore urging government to treat this moment with the seriousness it requires and to work with us urgently to restore confidence in the process before further damage is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes after councils made a \u201cfinal offer\u201d to workers of 3.3 per cent for the 2026-27 financial year, which began in April.<\/p>\n

GMB members recently voted to reject the offer, and Unison members will be balloted for industrial action this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GMB, Unison and Unite concerned School Support Staff Negotiating Body’s remit will initially be ‘very limited’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":247382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[809,1114,466],"post-theme":[2422],"class_list":["post-247369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-pay","tag-support-staff","tag-unions","post-theme-pay-and-conditions"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t