School staff to strike over equal pay claim delays

Staff at dozens of schools are due to walk out over delays to equal pay claims being settled

Teaching assistants and other workers at dozens of schools have voted to strike in a dispute over pay.

Members of the GMB union at 35 schools in Birmingham are set to walk out after accusing Birmingham City Council of delaying the settlement of equal claims.

The strike dates have yet to be announced, but are expected to involve teaching assistants, catering staff and ground workers.

The council urged the union to work with it to explore solutions and said it had begun work on a new job evaluation process.

'Stolen wages'

GMB organiser Alice Reynolds said not one single female worker had received the money they were owed, almost a year after the council admitted they were responsible for an equal pay bill which could be as high as £760m.

“Birmingham City Council owe GMB members money after years of stolen wages, the equal pay crisis only ends when our members claims are settled,” she said.

“This is no longer about sending messages, workers are now taking matters into their own hands.”

She said the strike action would have a huge impact on schools, and that council bosses were running out of time to resolve the situation.

A city council spokesperson said the authority had been engaging with GMB on equal pay matters since November 2021.

They added the council was working on a new approach to job evaluation in order to settle equal pay issues.

"The council would encourage GMB to explore solutions working together, as it remains committed to resolving historic equal pay issues, and settling all legitimate claims from our employees," they said.