Sheila Caffrey, Officer of Bristol NEU and member of the National Executive for the South West

After four days of brilliant strike action, and a further ten days planned, support staff at 12 schools in the Cathedral Schools Trust (CST) in Bristol and North Somerset have won a fantastic victory. The strike was by members of the National Education Union (NEU) and Unison, fighting together.

Talks with CST about stolen pay ended with an offer that will give every member of support staff a substantial financial settlement. Although all the details are not allowed to be shared, it was good enough to be agreed by 100% of members in less than two hours.

And all this from a CEO who was pretending he still didn’t understand the dispute a week before!

It shows the power of collective union action – and although we never want to strike, the impact it has when we do!

Huge congratulations to the reps and members across the trust who have delivered this result. Our membership grew by over 100. We’ve got reps in every school, who have worked really hard with their members, discussing all the issues, answering the questions people have.

Strikers explained the issues support staff face. Emma, NEU rep at St Werburgh’s school, told us: “When I first started at this school, I was earning about £3 an hour more than the minimum wage.

“Currently, even with the pay increase, I’m earning less than a pound an hour more than minimum wage.”

Susie Bennerson, NEU rep at Victoria Park Primary School, said: “We’ve had really, really busy pickets. We’ve had a huge amount of support from the community. We’ve had a huge amount of parents and pupils and teachers who stood in solidarity with us on the picket line.”

Strikers respond to the result

I am so proud to have been part of this action, so proud to stand up and be counted. Striking is never an easy decision, but this win proves that it’s necessary, and knowing the difference it will make to support staff is amazing. And for me personally, I’m going to celebrate by turning the heating up a little bit higher.

It’s a great feeling of satisfaction to see how collective action through the NEU can bring a benefit to everyone. It brings a sense of safety to our school communities. It’s great to know that whatever difficulties we could be going through, the union will always be there to support us.

It’s been an emotional roller-coaster and all staff have found it so hard, but to have this amazing win and be paid what we are owed was well worth all the strikes! I wanted to stand as a rep as I wanted to help our support staff have a voice. I am a working-class girl from a working-class background and I wanted to stand up for what was morally right!