Commenting on the press release issued today by the GMB union claiming support staff pensions have been raided to fund a teacher pay rise, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"It's disappointing that GMB are misinforming support staff who are rightly concerned about their pensions.
“Not one support staff pension has been cut - this is a fall in what employers pay in, set independently by actuaries because these funds are healthier than expected. Our fight from day one was for a fully funded pay rise for the whole school workforce, and this is a win on exactly those terms: support staff were most of the 8,300 jobs we warned were at risk from an unfunded award, and it's the NEU's campaign and the threat of strike action which has now ensured this money stays in the school system."