Labour has been accused of using money linked to dinner ladies and other school support staff to help fund teachers’ pay rises, in a move branded “disgusting”.
The GMB union, which represents 100,000 school support workers, said Education Secretary Lucy Powell “should be ashamed” of taking money from its members.
Those affected include dinner ladies, caretakers, receptionists, librarians and care workers — staff described by the union as the lowest-paid group in education.
It emerged yesterday that this year’s teacher pay rise will be financed through savings on support staff pension contributions.
A surplus in the Local Government Pension Scheme will allow schools to reduce their employer contributions for these workers by an average of 4.9 per cent, freeing up money that can instead be used to cover the teacher pay award.
The change will not reduce support staff pensions or have any adverse effect on their retirement benefits.
However, the GMB is understood to oppose diverting the unexpected savings, arguing that the money should be used to improve the pay and benefits of school support staff instead.
Support staff are set to receive a 3.3 per cent pay increase this year, compared with a 3.5 per cent rise for teachers.
Labour has been accused of taking money from dinner ladies in a “disgusting” move to fund teachers’ pay rises (pictured: Education Secretary Lucy Powell)
Stacey Booth, GMB national officer, said: “School support staff are already paid a pittance for nurturing, feeding and helping to educate our children.”
‘To take money from their pensions to give others a pay rise is completely disgusting.
‘Ministers should be ashamed of themselves – if they can’t fund a pay rise they should have the guts to admit it rather than stealing the money of others.
‘Meanwhile anyone who celebrates a pay rise that takes money away from the poorest paid group in education is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and should take a long hard look at themselves.’
The union said it was going to meet Ms Powell to voice concerns its members had been sidelined.
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Department for Education confirmed the move ‘does not reduce the pension benefits support staff receive’.
Yesterday’s announcement from Ms Powell came in response to the National Education Union (NEU), which is mostly made up of teachers, threatening strikes over their pay rise not being ‘fully funded’.
Schools had originally been expected to fund roughly half the pay rise from their existing budgets, raising concerns over staff cuts.
The GMB union, which represents 100,000 school support staff, said Education Secretary Lucy Powell ‘should be ashamed’ of taking money from their members (file picture)
A formal strike ballot had been planned for this autumn, with walk-outs expected after Christmas.
However, under the new arrangement, around £500 million will be made available from the pension scheme savings, meaning there will no longer be a shortfall.
NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede said today of the GMB comments: ‘Not one support staff pension has been cut – this is a fall in what employers pay in, set independently by actuaries because these funds are healthier than expected.
‘Our fight from day one was for a fully funded pay rise for the whole school workforce, and this is a win on exactly those terms: support staff were most of the 8,300 jobs we warned were at risk from an unfunded award, and it’s the NEU’s campaign and the threat of strike action which has now ensured this money stays in the school system.’
The Local Government Pension Scheme is a defined benefits scheme and relies on contributions from both employers and employees.
It is separate from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, which is for teachers only.
A DfE spokesman said: ‘Supporting the whole school workforce remains a priority for this Government, and the recent pay awards and funding will benefit teachers, teaching assistants and support staff alike.
‘The recent local government pension scheme valuation reduces what schools have to pay into the scheme as employers, but it does not reduce the pension benefits support staff receive.
‘This has the overall effect of supporting the whole school budget.’