Early years workers have voted overwhelmingly for strike action as their council proposes redundancies.

North Lanarkshire Council is proposing to make early years practitioners redundant or asking them to work at a lower wage in a move affecting 375 workers with staff facing a pay cut of up to £6,500.

Union members of Unison were balloted on strike action, with an overwhelming majority of 97% voting to reject the plans and to take strike action on a 77% turnout.

The results are being announced to workers at council meetings this evening and the union is now preparing for strike action which will close nursery schools.

Marie Quiqley, UNISON North Lanarkshire branch secretary, said: “These fire and rehire plans are outrageous proposals. I had hoped the council would have seen sense by now.

"They are jeopardising children’s entire education if they don’t ensure young people are properly supported from the very start.

"Strike action is not something these workers wanted. But early years practitioners have made it very clear they will take action unless these plans are scrapped.

“At a time when it’s harder than ever to make ends meet, these mostly women workers are being asked to do the same work for considerably less.

"The council needs to put an immediate end to these plans and start prioritising children, and the workforce our young people rely upon.

"The whole community has been rallying in support of these workers, it’s high time the council realised their value too.”

UNISON regional organiser, Audrey Malloy, said: “These are the workers who nurture young children and prepare them for school, identifying their needs and ensuring they are met.

"Demands on early years practitioners are increasing because they’re seeing more children with increased educational needs, as a result of being unable to socialise during the pandemic. The council now needs to think again.”

It comes after the council emailed some 80 primary and 50 secondary teachers on Friday to tell them that they could no longer offer contracts after the summer holidays. 

The Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) has hit out at the decision, saying they have received numerous emails from 'distressed' teachers.

General Secretary Andrea Bradley, said: “The issuing of these notifications by North Lanarkshire Council, with no prior notice whatsoever, late on a Friday and within days of the summer holidays, has caused serious upset amongst the teachers affected.

"Instead of being able to start their well-earned summer break on a high, they are deeply anxious and worried about how they are going to cover the costs of food and housing as prices and mortgage rates and rents continue to soar.

"After years of study and training to become teachers, when class sizes are full to bursting, and when there’s insufficient support for children and young people with additional support needs, it is quite scandalous that highly qualified professionals face such casualisation and precarity.”

A council spokesperson said, "We note the outcome of the UNISON ballot for a limited number of early years staff to go on strike and we will now work with parents and carers to try to minimise any impact on families and children.

"Employees affected have a number of options including applying for voluntary severance or early retiral on enhanced terms. Redeployment opportunities are available and any staff remaining will be subject to multi-year protection of their current salary.

"These changes align the staffing structure with the previously agreed model and were decided as part of the council's budget-setting process for 2023-24 in which a budget gap of £28.3million had to be addressed."