Classroom assistants take protest to Stormont

Over a hundred disgruntled classroom assistants in the North have picketed Stormont as part of their strike for better pay and conditions.

NIPSA union members from east and south Belfast gathered outside Parliament Buildings to wave placards and blow horns in support of their protest against the regrading of posts.

Education Minister Caitriona Ruane has called for an end to the demonstration after the latest offer from employers was rejected.

Cathy Walker, 39, from Mitchell House special needs school in east Belfast, claimed she had been driven to the step by years of being under paid.

“We don’t want to be out here, we care for the children. It is because we have cared for them that this has gone on for so long,” she said.

“The Department of Education has left us with no other option but to strike. We are standing strong and we are not going to back down until we get what we consider a fair offer.”

The dispute centres on pay and re-grading, and has been going on for 12 years without resolution.

Indefinite strike action began on Monday following a one-day demonstration last month.

The Department has denied that any classroom assistant will lose out in the job evaluation scheme which is being negotiated.

All staff have been told they will not lose any pay or pension as long as they remain in their current jobs.

As part of the deal, employers offered to allocate up to £25m (€36m) to cover the backdating of the re-grading to 1995, with the amount each individual receives varying according to the level of upgrading and length of service.

Ms Walker added: “We have come here to get some support, to see if we can get some answers.

“The Department is trying to buy us out with a lump sum of money to buy out our contracts. We will be working more hours for less money and in my mind that isn’t a fair offer.”