Unite union 'refused to exempt special schools from strike'

Unite workers are on strike in a dispute over pay

The Unite union refused requests to exempt special school services from strike action, the Education Authority has claimed.

The authority said the union declined requests it made on Wednesday 16 March and Monday 21 March.

The Unite union has been contacted by BBC News NI for a response.

Members of Unite are taking action over a local government pay offer of 1.75%, which the union has called a "real terms pay cut".

Unite is one of the largest public sector unions.

The union said its members in councils, the Education Authority and the Housing Executive expressed overwhelming support for the industrial action in ballots.

Gareth Scott, from Unite, told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster the offer was "totally inadequate".

"These local authority workers have seen their pay cut in real terms by 22% in last 12 years," he added.

"Over the last two years, during the pandemic, they have been essential workers and now we have the cost of living crisis - the response from employers was to offer a meagre 1.75% increase."

When asked if the union had considered making an exception for special schools, he said the problem lay with the employers.

"This could have been avoided by the employers making a fair and reasonable pay offer - something that goes a lot closer to meeting the cost of living," he said.

"Our members do not want to be on strike. But they have got to the point where they feel they have no alternative."

Some school transport, meals, council bin collections, leisure services and Housing Executive maintenance will be disrupted by the week-long action by over 2,000 Unite members.

Some special schools are expected to be particularly affected by the unavailability of Education Authority transport as they rely heavily on the so-called yellow buses.

Some classroom assistants in special schools who are members of Unite may also be on strike.

But only one of 39 special schools - Glenveagh in Belfast - has said it cannot offer pupils face-to-face teaching "due to lack of staffing".

The Education Authority, though, said it had asked on Wednesday 16 March for classroom assistants at Glenveagh to be exempt from the strike.

It had also asked for yellow bus drivers in greater Belfast who transport wheelchair-using pupils to be allowed to continue to work.

The strikes may cause some disruption to school meals

The authority said that on Monday it had gone further and asked Unite to exempt all special school staff and bus drivers from the strike action.

The Education Authority's director of human resources Clare Duffield told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra that Unite had been asked to "protect" special schools.

"It is very disappointing that children with special educational needs are having their normal routine disrupted," she said.

"And it's really disappointing that those requests have been rejected at this stage."

"We have made the requests on a number of occasions and will continue to escalate those requests so that we can attempt to minimise the disruption throughout the week."

"We absolutely respect the right of a trade union and their members to take lawful industrial action but it's very disappointing when that impact son the most vulnerable children and young people."

Ms Duffield said that around 100 out of over 2,000 EA bus routes had been affected by strike action on Monday but that pupils from special schools has been most affected.