| As the new school year approaches, we wanted to provide you with updates on some key issues that may affect you.
Health & Safety of School Buildings – what you need to know.
Yesterday (31 August 2023), the Government in England made an announcement regarding the potential closure / part closure of 156 schools in England due to the presence of and concerns over the use of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC). Previously schools had been advised that putting certain measures in place would be sufficient to protect the health and safety of children and employees. However, yesterday due to new evidence, the guidance has been changed and affected schools advised to close until repairs are made.
GMB has been raising our concerns with the Department for Education (DfE) on this issue for some time. We have requested a meeting with the DfE to understand the full extent of the problem and which schools are affected. Affected schools must take this incredibly seriously as the RAAC could fail at any time and poses a catastrophic risk. All risk assessments and systems of work should assume that the RAAC is an imminent hazard and unless remedial work has been undertaken by qualified and competent contractors, buildings known to contain RAAC should not be used. The health and safety of staff and pupils is paramount.
GMB members should not be expected to perform inspections, risk assessments, or remedial works. This is specialised activity that requires competence and expertise.
Any temporary provision of school classrooms or facilities must be fully risk assessed in consultation with unions, and be safe to operate within.
GMB members should suffer no detriment if schools switch to online learning. Terms and conditions, including pay and holiday entitlements, should be fully respected.
If you have been affected by this issue, please contact your local GMB Representative or email us at schoolsteamlondon@gmb.org.uk. Please see attached an information sheet with further details.
Free School Meals in London
GMB London welcomes any effort to create universal free school meals and this was a policy that was first proposed by Mary Turner, our late GMB London Regional President. The Mayor of London’s Free School Meal Scheme will mean all pupils in London, below secondary school age will receive free, costed, meals for the year 2023/4.
GMB London has however, raised some concerns regarding the logistical challenge this policy will have on our kitchen and catering members. Where kitchen capacity is too small to feed all pupils, we have been informed that several schools will now be staging staggered lunchbreaks or looking at easier to prepare meals. We have been assured by the Mayor, that the cost per meal funding is high enough to ensure that our members will be paid for the work they are doing, including additional hours where needed, and kitchen facilities could be improved when and where they are substandard. We remain concerned about an increase in agency employment in our kitchens and have also raised this issue. There will be an all-union meeting with the mayoral team to check-in on any issues that emerge early in the new term so please do let us know if you have a matter that needs to be raised. You can either contact your workplace representative or email us at schoolsteamlondon@gmb.org.uk.
Pay
The NJC Pay Award for 2023/24 still remains unresolved after GMB members voted overwhelmingly to reject the unfunded, £1 per hour increase (£1925 per annum for full time 52 week employees). GMB is campaigning for Government to fund any pay increase as an unfunded pay award has the potential to result in cuts to services and job losses. GMB will also be conducting Industrial Action Ballots in some schools. As advised previously, GMB is not balloting all schools because we want to ensure, as far as possible, that we can achieve the legislated turnout thresholds and deliver meaningful action.
You may be aware that NEU accepted the Governments Offer for the Teachers Pay Award. GMB remains concerned at how this pay award will be funded as the figures are unclear. It appears that the ‘funding’ for the award is based on the premise that schools have £2.4 billion of headroom, of which £1.5 billion is currently designated for energy bills. The hope is that as energy prices are coming down, schools will not need to use all of this and it can be used for the pay award. As you know, schools do not really have headroom in their budgets and budgets are squeezed to a point that staff bring in supplies for pupils and classes. GMB as the Union for School Support Staff, will continue to fight for its members, fight to protect jobs and fight for proper funding. GMB only represents support staff and if you have any colleagues who are not in a Union, they can join GMB at www.gmb.org.uk/join
You may be aware of NEU recruiting support staff in your school and the TUC ruled that the NEU had to pay GMB (and other support staff unions) financial compensation because it had been actively recruiting support staff when it could not negotiate or bargain on their behalf. NEU is clear on its website that “The NEU is led by teachers for teachers” and yet many support staff joined unaware that NEU could not negotiate on their pay and terms and conditions. Attached with this email, is a poster with further details that you may wish to share with affected colleagues.
School Visits
Our Schools Team will once again be meeting with members in schools, to hear from them about their issues and to share details of the campaigns GMB London is running such as ‘The Right Pay for the Right Job’ which is about job re evaluation and ‘Not Part of the Job’ which is about ending the tolerance of violence and abuse against school support staff. If you would like us to visit your school, or if you have any questions please contact us at schoolsteamlondon@gmb.org.uk.
Workplace Representatives are so important in schools as they are the voice of support staff and work with members to be the change they want to see. If you are interested in becoming a Rep, please get in touch.
Thank you for your continued support and we wish you a good start to your new term.
Kind regards
Lisa Bangs and Keith Williams
GMB London Region
Health & Safety Update September 2023
NEU Poster |
