On Saturday 25th March, County Durham Teaching Assistants, who remain in negotiations with Durham County Council over pay and conditions, will be holding a ‘national day of solidarity’ march in Durham city centre from 9am, as part of their campaign against the local authority’s plans to slash their pay by 23% while increasing the number of hours they must work.
DCC’s Labour-led authority has said that a full review of TA job descriptions will take place and is expected to report in September.
However, teaching assistant representatives and negotiators for Unison, the union that represents most of the county’s TAs have insisted that “significant progress” must be made by March or they will be forced to return to the picket lines.
A spokesperson for County Durham Teaching Assistant Activists, the group formed by TAs to fight the county’s proposals said: “Contrary to what the public may have heard, this dispute is not resolved and no deal has been done.
“Unions are still in negotiations and TAs are growing impatient with the lack of ‘demonstrable’ progress so far.”
The group has led several high profile demonstrations across the county – including several at County Hall – which have received national attention while UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis has pledged that the union will support striking TAs financially.
The spokesperson added: “Durham TAs have had phenomenal support from across the country since their dispute began and they are now calling on everyone to once again join them in a huge show of solidarity on 25th March to ensure that the council knows that they are going nowhere and time is running out to resolve this once and for all.
“The march will be followed by a grassroots-led rally at the beautiful Redhills, home of the Durham Miners’ Association.”
In a bulletin to teaching assistants published on Tuesday 7th February, UNISON said: “A Teaching Assistant work group has just been set up to ensure wide participation and influence from Teaching Assistants across different schools and range of experiences.
“Obviously there’s still a lot of work to do. We expect to see a deal taking shape in the coming weeks and we are continuing to talk to politicians in Durham and convey the sense of urgency to resolve the dispute – but if there is not continued progress then UNISON will not hesitate to support Teaching Assistants taking further industrial action.”
TAs are also planning a second all-day vigil at County Hall every day during the half-term break.
There will be a permanent demonstration throughout the half-term with shifts of teaching assistants volunteering to remain on site from 8am – 5pm every day from Monday to Thursday.
Follow the Durham Teaching Assistants campaign on Twitter and Facebook.
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