Greenwich - Classroom Assistants

Classroom assistants in Greenwich are the latest group to be arbitrarily excluded from settlement offers the local council is making - in respect of equal pay.

Why single out classroom assistants? Who knows, but other groups are probably affected as well.

Apparently, local management and the trade unions have done a deal which leaves classroom assistants out in the cold – see the post about Enfield Council dated 18 October 2008.

Employers often behave this way – it’s not unusual for them to make up the rules as they go along – and then get their chums in the trade unions to endorse some madcap scheme - that discriminates against one group or another.

If you’re being left out and told you don't have a case – the best thing to do is to take these statements with a huge pinch of salt - and then register your own equal pay claim with the Employment Tribunals.

Because that's what really worries the employers - taking a case to the Employment Tribunals means they're no longer in charge – they can’t make up the rules just to suit themselves - they have to account for what they do and how they behave.

In other words – they are no longer both judge and jury in their own cause.

So, don’t believe local managers or union reps that say you have no claim.

Instead, ask them how the offers to staff are actually calculated, how do they justify excluding some groups – on exactly what grounds - and which male comparators are being used for the purposes of making these offers?.

The employers won’t answer these questions, of course – since that would let the cat out of the bag.

Action 4 Equality’s advice is to challenge what they are doing – don’t take it lying down – you have nothing to lose and potentially lots to gain.

For an application form contact Action 4 Equality London on – 0845 300 3 800