Support staff working at schools in Merton are to be balloted for strike action over a long-standing pay discrepancy.
Merton leader: the GMB is calling on council leader Ross Garrod to settle the pay dispute
Teaching Assistants and school support staff in Merton receive London Weighting at the Outer London rate. Yet their teacher colleagues in the same schools receive the higher Inner London rate – a difference on average of £1,400 per year per employee.
Merton is usually regarded as being an outer London borough.
GMB union members working in Merton’s schools submitted a petition of more than 500 signatures last year to protest at the discrepancy in pay treatment. But the union’s discussions with the Labour-controlled Merton council have broken down.
The GMB’s members’ ballot will open on February 27, with any action to take place in the run-up to the upcoming local elections in May.
“Staff in Merton schools work incredibly hard but are being treated unfairly by a Labour authority who should be ashamed of this arrangement,” said Alex Etches, the GMB’s regional organiser.
“Staff are losing around a thousand pounds every year due to this con and they are sick of waiting for Labour leader Ross Garrod to do what is right and moral.
“Our message to the Labour group is clear: rectify this historic and ongoing pay injustice and there will be no need for any action while you are concentrating on getting re-elected.”
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