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Crunch talks in assistants' row Unions divided over school action
(about 1 hour later)
A make or break meeting is to be held later in an attempt to settle the classroom assistants' dispute. One of the unions representing classroom assistants has criticised the decision by Nipsa to hold a one-day strike on Wednesday.
The four trade unions involved will reconvene a meeting held on Tuesday with the employers' negotiating team. The four unions and employers are resuming talks held on Tuesday, where there were signs of progress.
While there were signs of progress, unions said they needed a firm offer they could put to members. GMB union spokesman Eamonn Coy said: "I cannot understand why any union would go on strike in circumstances where negotiations are ongoing."
On Wednesday, one of the unions, Nipsa, went ahead with a one-day strike involving members who work in both special and mainstream schools. Nipsa's John Corey described Mr Coy's comments as "disgraceful".
If the dispute is not settled, a further three-day strike could take place next week, followed by an all out strike the following week. "They do a disservice to the thousands of classroom assistants who took strike action on Wednesday and gave full and unequivocal support for that," he said.
However, Mr Coy said he believed the dispute could be resolved without members of his union taking strike action.
"I will not have GMB members unnecessarily lose pay, they are already on low pay," he said.
If the dispute is not settled, Nipsa has warned that a further three-day strike could take place next week, followed by an all-out strike the following week.