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An asbestos warning sign, February 8, 2009
NEARLY one in four school staff work in buildings with asbestos, a GMB survey revealed today as TUC Congress backed its calls against forced academisation.
The union’s poll of more than 4,500 school support staff found 23 per cent worked in schools which had problems with asbestos.
Just over half also work in buildings with a leaky roof and more than a quarter in buildings with damp and mould.
Some 44 per cent work in buildings with cracked walls and nearly one in three reported lacking pens.
GMB national officer Stacey Booth said: “School support staff have been repugnantly underpaid for years as they educate and care for our children.
“Meanwhile they are force to work in unsafe, leaky building — riddled with asbestos and mould.
“GMB members will today call on the TUC to back their fight to for fair pay and an end to academisation.”
Labour must deliver its manifesto promises in full and begin the bigger task of restoring workers’ collective power, says MATT WRACK
Funding education properly is the surest means of empowering new generations to play a full part in democratic participation and social progress, it is also essential for children with special needs to achieve their potential, writes ANDREA BRADLEY
