SOCIAL workers based at Whiterock Library recommenced strike action on Monday as part of long-running pay dispute with the Education Authority (EA).

Education Welfare Officers, who are members of the trade union NIPSA, are seeking pay parity with their colleagues in the health service, who are paid up to £5,000 more per year. 

Those at Whiterock Library are among social workers at seven sites across the North who will take strike action this week.

The workers had previously taken strike action in December and had also engaged in work-to-rule industrial action.

In a letter to members, NIPSA Assistant Secretary, Alan Law, said the trade union met with EA management on 19 January "to continue discussions" on pay. 

"We were presented with proposals which make some progress on pay disparity, but they do not deliver any significant progress for members at the maximum point on the pay scale," he wrote.

"NIPSA made it abundantly clear to management that this dispute will only be resolved by understanding our objectives and listening to what we are trying to achieve.

"We believe that social workers employed by the Education Authority have every right to pay parity with those employed by Health and Social Care Trusts."

He said industrial action "will be escalated in subsequent weeks to ensure that Management, Department of Education and the Minister of Education are left in no doubt how committed we are to delivering pay parity."

A spokesperson for the EA said: “Our Education Welfare Officer role is being reviewed to ensure that we meet the needs of our children and young people. The role provides an important service in promoting and supporting positive attendance at school, and has been reviewed through engagement with families, schools and children and young people.

"We are committed to negotiations with NIPSA to find a resolution to the Education Welfare Officer pay dispute and continue to engage with them on an ongoing basis.

"We will do everything possible to make sure that the needs of our children and young people who use the service, continue to be addressed throughout this period.”