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School Support Staff Negotiating Body
The School Support Staff Negotiating Body is the biggest change that School Support staff will have seen in many years. You will see it referred to as the SSSNB and it will only have one function, to negotiate for School Support Staff.
The SSSNB was originally created by the Labour government between 2007 and 2010 and was intended to establish a national framework for pay and conditions for school support staff in England. The SSSNB's only focus was issues that affected school support staff. So rather than using the same negotiating body as council workers, the National Joint Council (NJC), School Support Staff would have their own body to set, pay and terms and conditions.
The SSSNB was abolished by the coalition government in 2010.
However, the new Labour government has recently announced that it will be reinstating the SSSNB. The SSSNB will apply to support staff in both academies and local authority maintained schools.
The SSSNB's responsibilities will include: Negotiating pay and terms and conditions, Advising on career progression and training, Establishing national terms and conditions, Establishing career progression routes, and Establishing fair pay rates.
The SSSNB will include the trade unions UNISON, GMB, and Unite. The NEU will not be able to negotiate pay for school support staff.
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A new deal for school support staff
What will the SSSNB cover?
As outlined above, the body will cover all aspects of work for school support staff.
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Pay
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Terms and conditions, such as working hours, sickness absence, maternity and paternity pay.​
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Job descriptions, your role and responsibilities.
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Training and progression.
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Health and safety including violence at work.
You will be able to directly affect your pay, terms and conditions.
The Branch is fully supportive of this change, and we believe you will to. Unison is the largest Trade Union in schools and we want you to be involved, and help Unison set up the body in a way that it best supports you.
No longer will you have to rely on Council workers to reject your pay offer, you can reject it yourselves!
Protection arrangements will be needed to make sure the transition from the Green Book to the SSSNB doesn’t leave anyone worse off.
You can get involved by completing the survey here: http://s.alchemer.eu/sSSSNB or scan the QR code.
​Staying connected with Unison and your Branch
The Branch is committed to winning the best possible deal for its members. To do that, we need to bargain from a strong collective position. Your voice will be heard, as only school support staff issues will be the agenda in these meetings, nothing will be lost in the detail.
To make sure your school is connected join the network of school champions and:
1. Receive New Deal updates to share with your colleagues.
2. Be in a position to support your Branch in activities in the school, such as Stars in your School and recruitment events.
3. Be the point of contact between your school and the Branch on all matters that affect you and your colleagues.
The bigger we are, the stronger we are.
Unison has produced a briefing paper for you on the
School Support Staff Negotiating Body, to view and
print this document, click on the document image here.
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