Welsh Labour promises year-round pay for school support staff in manifesto

School support staff will receive year-round pay should Welsh Labour win the next Senedd election, leading to a pay rise for the lowest paid school workers.

In the party’s latest manifesto pledge, pay agreements and training opportunities would be expanded for teaching assistants, cooks, cleaners and caretakers through a new School Support Staff Negotiating Body, as part of Welsh Labour’s ambition to tackle in-work poverty and make work pay.

It comes after a recent report by Unison found that such a policy would help the lowest paid workers in schools, most of whom are women.

First Minister and Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan will make the manifesto pledge at Unison’s Labour Link conference in Cardiff later today.

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In her speech, Morgan will say: “Our school support staff – teaching assistants, administrative staff, caretakers, lunchtime supervisors – the people who keep our schools running, support our children, and make inclusive education possible. They are the backbone of our education system.

“Yet for far too long, too many of them have been among the lowest-paid workers in public service. Too many are not paid year-round. Too many miss out on training and professional development. Too many feel undervalued despite the responsibility they carry every single day.

“That is not fair – and it is not right. Under Welsh Labour, that will change.”

Unison Cymru general secretary Jess Turner said the policy would be a “transformative change” for school support staff.

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She said: “Term-time only pay has meant that tens of thousands of school support staff endure in-work poverty, despite them being essential to the education workforce in Wales.

“A school support staff negotiating body for Wales could finally correct this historic wrong. It would be a transformative change for a workforce that educates children, supports families and holds schools together, yet has been undervalued.

“This is something Unison Cymru members have campaigned for over many years, and Welsh Labour’s pledge reflects the strength, determination and organisation of our school-based membership.”

The policy is the second manifesto commitment unveiled by Welsh Labour so far, after promising to bring in a £2 fare cap for adult bus fares.

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