EOC report calls for fair pay for classroom assistants

The publication of the EOC's Formal Investigation into the role and status of Scotland's Classroom and Learning Assistants (CLAs) was an important step forward towards justice.

The EOC called for all local authorities to increase the pay of all CLAs and for a task force comprising unions, employers and the Scottish Executive, to oversee the introduction of fair pay for these key staff.

CoSLA, however, rejected the report and in particular the idea of a joint task force.

Peter Hunter, UNISON's Legal Officer, and a member of the investigation's advisory board said, "UNISON has consistently argued that these important members of the education team have been undervalued since they were placed on the lowest possible pay scale in 1999. We congratulate the EOC on their detailed work, welcome the report, and call on Executive to fund the full compensation of women underpaid as a result.

"It is sad that CoSLA is obstructing a fair way of addressing the findings of this report. We urge them to recognise the bulk of the recommendations."

Jackie Gilchrist, a UNISON member and classroom assistant from St Andrew's Primary School in Midlothian, said, "It is good to have an independent body confirming what we, our teaching colleagues and parents have known for sometime - that classroom assistants carry out more responsible work than the grading recognises, and have done for sometime.

"Through UNISON, we will now be campaigning to ensure that the key recommendations of this report are implemented and that classroom assistants get the credit and salary that reflects their vital contribution to Scottish education."

UNISON will be taking a detailed look at the other recommendations in the Report and wants to sit down with the EOC to discuss the recommendations further. Whilst the report is overwhelmingly positive, the union has concerns about the recommendation to place CLAs under the remit of the General Teaching Council, where they would have no representation.

Peter Hunter said, "It doesn't seem consistent to place key support posts that are already underrated within a teaching machinery that is bound to regard them as second class citizens. Their progression and training should be developed in the existing negotiating machinery where classroom and learning assistants can be directly represented by their union."

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