Catherwood LibraryILR School

As a result of a 48-hour strike by teaching assistants in England’s County Durham, over 100 schools have had to reduce classes or close school altogether. Workers are protesting the proposal that the teaching assistants would only be paid during the school year, which could mean as much as a 20% decrease in salary. In the spring the union agreed that the teaching assistants would be let go and then re-hired with term time salaries starting in April 2017, along with two years’ compensation. Many of the strikers are former teaching assistants who quit their jobs due to feelings of under-appreciation.