Pre-school education

Nursery nurses in Scotland are continuing their indefinite strike action after the Scottish Parliament rejected calls for a national pay settlement. Around 300 of the 5,000 nurses on strike demonstrated for improved pay outside the Scottish Parliament as MSPs debated the issue on 11 March. The Scottish Socialist Party had tabled a motion calling for "a fair, nationally negotiated settlement" to the pay dispute. But MSPs voted 70 to 44 for a Scottish Executive motion urging councils and union leaders to get back round the negotiating table. Nine local authorities have agreed to local pay deals...

Nursery nurses in Scotland have just completed a fresh found of strike action. Between 6-10 October nurseries were closed in Edinburgh and the Lothians, Stirling, Inverclyde, the Highlands, Orkney and Moray. 5,000 local authority nursery nurses, members of UNISON, are pursuing a pay claim for £18,500. The first strike action began in May. Unison rep Joe Di Paola said: "Our members are being driven into more and more industrial action by an employer that neither knows nor cares about the service they provide." The local authority umbrella group COSLA has said its pay offer would guarantee a top...

By Vicki Morris The Scottish parliament on Wednesday 24 September was due to debate the nursery nurses' dispute, with Scottish Socialist Party MSP Carolyn Leckie moving support. Five thousand nursery nurses, members of Unison, who work in Scottish local authority nurseries are pursuing a pay claim for £18,500. Their average pay currently is £13,000. They also demand a 35-hour week, full pension rights and a clear career structure. Their programme of strike action began on 21 May. They held a week's strike from 8-12 September, and have now embarked on a programme of two-day selective strikes...

Five thousand nursery nurses across Scotland started a programme of rolling strike action on May 21st. The action started with walk-outs in the West of Scotland. Action in Edinburgh and East Lothian follows on Wednesday and Thursday 28/29 May. The nurses employed in council-run nurseries are fighting for a decent pay rise and re-grading. In addition to supporting the strikes they are also boycotting all additional duties, including observation, recording assessment and evaluation processes, planning and development tasks, student training, all work outwith normal working hours, and all...

By Janine Booth - From Solidarity 3/14, 11 October 2002 I live in a SureStart pilot area. SureStart is a government project to help children younger than four years old. But for many parents, kids and workers, it has been a frustrating experience. I will say before I start to rant that SureStart Queensbridge and Dalson provides some good services, and we would be poorer without it. My friends and I have benefited from classes, advice, and play sessions. We have a great little Toddler Art Club on our estate. But it was a battle with SureStart's administration to get it going, and therein lies...

By Jean Lane In the centre of Hackney, where the children, by and large, live in tower blocks and where green space is a rare commodity, St John's Nursery provided a beautiful, open, green space for over 40 kids. Foxes, feral cats and squirrels were a part of the children's everyday experience. Staff with over 18 years experience in the sort of care that inner city kids would need to prepare them for the jungle of the 'big school' gave them their first experience of independent life outside the home in a safe, anti-racist and peaceful setting. What could be more important in the busy agenda of...

By Rosie Woods Parents have pledged to fight Hackney Council's plan to close St.John's nursery. "St. John's is a popular nursery that provides a good standard of care", said Janine Booth, whose three-year-old son Alex attends the nursery. "Parents have seen the way that our kids have benefited - they are getting a great start in their education, development and social skills, looked after by skilled professionals in a multi-racial setting. Now Hackney Council wants to take that away. How do you explain to a toddler that they are going to be separated from their friends, and from adult carers...