A HUNDRED striking classroom assistants and support staff will hold a lunchtime rally outside academy chain Lift’s London HQ today, Unison has announced.

The workers at special education needs (SEN) schools Pioneer in Basildon and Columbus in Chelmsford are asking for a special allowance to recognise the extra skills and responsibilities needed to support SEN pupils.

Teachers receive a payment of up to £5,500 a year for working in SEN settings, but the Lift support staff — who administer medical and personal care and deal with complex behaviours — get nothing, said Unison.

Unison Eastern area organiser Bea Bartilucci said: “Lift has refused to listen to its employees’ concerns, so workers are taking their message to the company’s headquarters.

“All staff want is proper recognition for the work they do. It’s in Lift’s interests too: the allowance would go a long way to ending the huge turnover of staff at Columbus and Pioneer, allowing the schools to cut costs on recruitment and expensive agency staff.

“The academy chain is millions of pounds in the black. Bosses can easily afford an SEN allowance. Instead they’re forcing workers onto picket lines and disrupting their students’ education. 

“It’s time for Lift to do the right thing and give staff the allowance they deserve.”

Unlike teachers, Lift support staff receive no extra payment for administering medical and personal care and dealing with complex behaviours. It has led to increased use of expensive agency workers and upset to students who need routine and familiar faces to thrive, added the union.

Unison has also dismissed Lift’s claim that it has made a “significant” pay offer, saying the complicated regrading scheme amounts to no increase for some staff and about 40p an hour to others.

Lift was contacted for comment.