Classroom Assistamts denied democracy

armagh | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Saturday December 01, 2007 17:44 by ,

Are the ballots rigged?

Having fought their way through weeks of attacks by their employers/Sinn Fein/DUP, Classroom Assistants yesterday faced another barrier to a just settlement of the ongoing job evaluation dispute. Employers linked up with UNISON and GMB to outvote NIPSA and T&G and to force a rotten deal through the Joint Negotiating Council for education.

Education Boss Caitroina Ruane made repeated calls for NIPSA Classroom Assistants to hold a ballot on the rotten deal but when Classroom Assistants offered to do so they where denied the opportunity to hold a ballot and the unjust settlement was forced through instead. The other unions, UNISON and GMB have insisted that the majority of Classroom Assistants have voted for the offer but have not released any accurate figures for their ballots.

Angry Classroom Assistants have called for a public inquiry into the ballot procedure and are demanding that the membership figures for each union are released.

The ICTU intervened in the dispute to broker an inter-union agreement which would have tied Classroom Assistants hand and foot. This extraordinary and historic document is attached.

Who would accept this? 0.75 Mb