Hundreds of North Lanarkshire early years workers, parents and children staged a noisy demonstration outside the council’s headquarters campaigning against a budget cut which will see workers facing massive reductions in wages.
They protested as members arrived for this afternoon’s full council meeting, waving homemade banners, flags and chanting “hands off early years” as they called for a reversal of the decision which will see around 300 current grade 9 staff members replaced with lower-paid grade 7 key workers.
Staff members told Lanarkshire Live of the “devastating” impact the plan will have on both children and workers, with some even telling how they fear having to sell their homes as a result of the potential 30 per cent reduction in wages for their current roles.
They were joined by children and parents from across North Lanarkshire, who spoke of the vital impact nursery workers have on their children’s development and called the council’s plans a “disgrace”.
Independent member Robert McKendrick and Green representative Claire Williams attempted to have the issue discussed at the scheduled council meeting, but had their efforts rejected under a council rule which means decisions cannot be revisited within six months.
North Lanarkshire Council agreed the change to workers’ gradings – intended to plug a £3 million budget gap – in their February budget, with the saving being included in all three budget proposals tabled by Labour, the SNP and Conservatives.
Unison branch secretary Marie Quigley said: “The turnout is absolutely amazing and it shows the strength of feeling across the community.
“These are crucial workers, who were on the frontline running keyworker hubs during Covid; we’re having meetings with the council and we’re saying they have to go back to the Scottish Government to fund early years.”
Council officials say that the NLC9 early learning practitioner posts “were not part of the agreed structure” of staffing introduced by the authority in 2019, saying: “We will be bringing forward plans to support all staff and explore other potential opportunities within the service for them.
“The council has a policy of no compulsory redundancies and people will not be left without a job. All staff are highly valued and we are determined that any impact on individuals is kept to a minimum.”
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