| UNISON City of Edinburgh Branch |
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21 May 2003 Edinburgh's nursery nurses demonstrate for fair dealEdinburgh's nursery nurses, backed by many parents and colleagues, will take their claim to the the door of the Council on the first day of their Scotland-wide programme of strikes and boycotts. The demonstration will start at 12.30 Wednesday 21 May 2003 in the quadrangle in front of the City Chambers, High Street Edinburgh. "On day one of our first two strike days, we want to make sure that councillors hear us. Up to now they have not listened and that is why we have been forced to go on strike", said Agnes Petkevicius, UNISON branch officer and a nursery nurse in a special school. "15 years after the last nursery nurses' review, our jobs have changed massively. That is why we asked for a review of status and career structure and an upgrading of nursery nurses' pay across Scotland. Scotland's councils have dragged out talks for 18 months, only to get back to where we started. They even added some worse proposals. That is why 90% of those voting backed the action in a ballot", added Agnes. Barbara Foubister, nursery nurse steward, said "In 2001 the employers said our claim had to be dealt with piecemeal in each of the 32 local councils. We took our claim to Edinburgh Council but they rejected it. We then won a joint Scottish working party - but the employers passed it all back to local level. Worse still, they also said nursery nurses in schools/classes would now be part time, with the potential loss of pay and pension rights". "The public are behind nursery nurses. They have supported demonstrations and have backed a 20,000 signature petition to the Scottish Parliament. We have ensured that parents have been kept fully informed. They know the employers are to blame for forcing such traditionally non-militant staff into taking this action", said John Stevenson, UNISON Edinburgh Branch Secretary. A qualified Nursery Nurse with two years training and 20 years experience can be on as little as £13,800 a year. There is no career structure in schools. The claim would review all the additional duties nursery nurses have taken on, the higher expectations of their job and would look at developing a career structure. UNISON is also calling for a Scotland-wide nursery nurse regrading. The action will mean the closure of Scotland's nurseries and nursery schools on strike days, and disruption of the overall nursery service. ENDS |
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