Striking council staff who 'love' their job say it's 'the worst it has ever been'
Wirral Council staff who walked out on strike today have hit out at the local authority over proposed pay cuts and work pressures. Frustrated workers who support children with special edicational needs and disabilities (SEND) said they were 'devastated' to get to the point of walking out from their jobs.
Eight staff members joined a National Education Union (NEU) picket line in the driving rain outside the local authority’s new Birkenhead office on Alice Ker Square this morning (Wednesday).
The NEU claimed the dispute and six-day walkout could have been avoided if Wirral Council had addressed concerns raised by members. Five more days of action are expected over a three week period.
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The strike is linked to pressures in the local authority's SEND department as it looks to comply with an improvement notice issued by the government earlier this year. This said the council had made poor progress following a critical inspection in 2021 that found the council had been “too slow,” its plans lacked “sufficient detail,” while families and carers said “the system is broken.”
The ECHO was told there was a high turnover of staff in the SEND team as a result of workload pressures and staff regularly off sick with stress with one union member unable to attend due to being off work because of health reasons. They said every team member "has experienced work-related stress and the mental and physical impact that that has on the person.”
The NEU has requested for three years of pay protection for staff as part of a planned restructure but Wirral Council had offered staff 18 months pay protection. This offer has reportedly been accepted by the union Unison who also represent workers within the SEND team.
NEU-represented staff said they felt they weren't being respected by the council's current senior leadership and argued the council was at risk of losing experienced staff at a time when it needed them. Many said they have family members with SEND, describing their work as “a calling rather than a job” with backgrounds in education and as teachers.
Staff on the picket line today said they feel they are letting families down with high case loads leading to delays. One worker said: "I'm feeling I can't help anyone in the position I am in”, while another staff member said the experience in the job was "the worst it has ever been." Another said: “We love what we do but it’s heartbreaking it’s come to this.”
A Wirral Council spokesperson said: “Wirral Council is committed to putting children and families first as we continue to improve our SEND provision. We are in the process of implementing a restructure within our SEND team that is designed to address many of the issues that are affecting SEND services nationally at this time, not just in Wirral.
“The restructure is part of additional investment in SEND services by Wirral Council - £1.1m this year and £2.8m next year - to improve the support offered to young people and their families and includes recruitment of additional staff. We have fully engaged with unions throughout this process and sought to address any concerns they have raised.”
The council recently approved a £1.1m investment in SEND services but the new team is not expected to be in place until January. However current staff said a team restructure announced in recent months meant they are expected to still be doing the same workload in the meantime but for less pay as some staff see their pay bands drop.
One staff member on the picket line today said: "It's us still carrying the entire SEND team. Every child with an EHCP (education, health and care plan) is our responsibility and we have got less support than ever. There's no emotional and mental health support whatsoever."
They added: "Every SEND child is important. I will be missing phone calls from desperate parents today. I will be receiving them from SENDCOs who desperately need support.
"I can't be there (in work) today because of the situation we are in. They said the impact is minimal but I wonder what the families would say about that. Even letting down one family is one family too many."
SENDCOs or SEND co-ordinators are teaching staff in schools who work with children with SEND to support them.
The staff member added: “We have been pushed here because although there has been investment finally in the team, that is after years and years of asking for help and not getting it, working far too many cases, getting stressed, and letting families down,” adding: “We are incredibly happy that more staff are coming in but the staff that have been around for so long are taking a financial hit.”
Some staff are reportedly dealing with more than 100 cases at any one time. A worker told the ECHO that they're struggling to care for their own family as they try to manage their workload, adding: "You just feel guilty because you aren't getting your work done but then you are also not supporting your own family enough."
NEU regional officer Bora Oktas said the current situation was unsustainable as staff felt neglected, ignored, and disregarded and more would leave. He said one staff member recently left because they “couldn’t carry on any more.”
He said: "It's quite challenging because families are quite emotional. They want the best for their children," adding: "It's a stressful job. You take on a lot of abuse and stress as part of this job. Treating staff like this is an abomination."
The issue of improvements to SEND services is due to come to the council’s education committee this evening on October 16. In a message to councillors, staff said: “We want to support our SEND families but Wirral Council have got to support us to do that,” adding: “They should be valuing the people who have been in the job for the longest.
“We are so desperate for it to be better for our families and we just feel disappointed that they won’t meet us halfway. That is what we need people to know. I can’t just drop all my cases tomorrow when I am on a lower grade. They are asking me to do the job I was doing but for lower pay.”