Commenting on the passing of Motion 17 at NEU Annual Conference in Brighton, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"Today, our conference has made a clear commitment: we must intensify the fight for support staff who are essential to our education system.
"We are seeing a growing gap between support staff’s take-home pay and the cost of living. Support staff are among the lowest-paid workers in education, with many earning close to the minimum wage. This ongoing undervaluation amounts to systemic exploitation of a workforce that schools depend on to function.
"Real terms pay cuts cannot continue. Workloads are rising, job roles are expanding with job creep, and support staff are being asked to take on more responsibility without fair pay. The NEU is deeply concerned about the impact of redundancies and worsening conditions on our members and their students. This must stop.
"Today, conference sends a clear message – support staff have been undervalued for too long. We are currently consulting our support members in an online indicative ballot about whether they are prepared to take action to win funding for an above inflation pay increase, reduce workload and prevent redundancies."