A teaching assistant has described how she had to cut back on heating last winter and has no spare money because wages are so low. She said the cost of living crisis has had a "crippling" effect on her.
Rebecca Ring, who works at Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi in Cardigan said any spare money she has goes on energy bills and food. The mother of four is calling on colleagues to back a strike ballot launched by Unison.
“The effects of the cost of living crisis have been crippling, Rebecca said, "any spare money I’ve had has gone on energy bills and food. Without government assistance with our energy bills, we would be behind on them."
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The public services union is balloting 360,000 local government workers in England and Wales as part of its campaign for fair pay. The Unison strike ballot follows a strike by teachers in the National Education Union Cymru earlier this year.
That strike ended when the Welsh Government upped its offer to teachers to an 8% pay rise for the 2002-23 financial year, including a 6.5% increase in annual pay and a one-off lump sum payment of 1.5%. A 5% increase in annual pay has also been agreed for 2023-24, up from the original offer of 3.5%.
Rebecca, who is a Unison representative at work added: “Unless we stand together on matters such as pay, things will not change. Teaching assistants are an essential requirement in schools, and are on the front line of education, supporting students and helping teachers.
“Teachers value the support they receive from teaching assistants. The wages don’t reflect the help they give.
“My message to local government workers in Wales is make sure you complete your ballot papers and return them, without your support change cannot be made. It’s so important that everyone uses their vote.”
In the past 12 years, council and school staff have lost an average 25% from the value of their pay when measured against inflation Unison has calculated. Unison Cymru Wales head of local government Darron Dupre said: “It is appalling to see teaching assistants who provide such a vital service having to go without to make ends meet.
"After years of austerity, the value of council and school pay has fallen by 25% in real terms. Jobs have been cut, workloads have gone up, yet wages haven’t kept up with the rising cost of living.
"Everyone needs and deserves a pay rise that keeps up with housing, bills, and food. Otherwise, school staff will simply up sticks for jobs paying better wages elsewhere.
"Voting for strike action is the only way to achieve a fully funded pay offer that recognises the vital services school and council staff provide."
Unison launched a ballot of 360,000 local government and school staff across Wales and England on May 23 to vote on whether to take industrial action over pay. The joint union pay claim for 2023/24 for 12.7% is based on the UK government’s inflation projection for the coming months, plus 2%, to "catch up after years of below-inflation pay increases".
The local government employers’ offer was a flat sum of £1,925, which amounts to roughly 9% for the lowest-paid who earn close to the national minimum wage,. Unison said that current pay offer is not funded so schools and councils will have to use existing budgets to pay for it resulting in potential redundancies across schools in Wales. Unison's ballot closes on July 4.
The Welsh Government was approached for comment.
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