Education Strike action ends after support staff win backpay battle

STRIKE action at a dozen Bristol schools has ended after support staff secured a victory over pay delays in the first multi-academy trust-wide dispute of its kind.

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Teaching staff at Bristol Cathedral Schools Trust during strike action last month

(Pic: Paul Gillis)

The Cathedral Schools Trust (CST), which manages 12 schools across Bristol and North Somerset, had not implemented the annual April pay increase for support staff until September. Workers claimed the practice left the lowest-paid staff in the trust underpaid for five months each year and has cost them thousands of pounds in lost income since 2016.

Jon Reddiford, South West NEU executive member and North Somerset NEU district secretary, said: "Support staff play an essential role in every school community, ensuring pupils are supported, safe and able to learn.

"Yet they remain some of the most undervalued workers in the education sector - overworked, underpaid and too often overlooked."

NEU and Unsion support staff members took four days of united strike action across the trust.

A further 10 days of action were planned before Acas-facilitated talks secured an improved financial settlement which members voted to accept.