Over 30 nursery workers have taken strike action due to a break down of negotiations with Barnsley Council.

On October 20, the GMB Union announced that the workers who are employed by six nurseries in Barnsley had unanimously voted for industrial action.

The union said that the decision came following news that the staff, who work at nurseries that have been outsourced by the council to private provider Limetree, are to be moved onto the private company’s basic statutory pension scheme.

The union claimed that this was confirmed ‘despite repeated promises’ that the staff would retain their existing local government pensions.

It has argued that the move results in a ‘significantly lower’ retirement pay out for workers, as well as eliminating their Death in Service entitlement.

Yesterday the workers demonstrated outside Grimethorpe nursery, then took their messages door to door and encouraged residents to back the call for councillors to rethink the decision.

The action saw that the six nurseries were closed, with one having already been shut due to the outsourcing.

However, the council has argued that the nurseries are being transferred to another provider rather than being outsourced. In its statement at the end of September, the local authority also said that the private provider is proposing more than the basic statutory pension scheme.

Reiterating its stance from its earlier press release, the council said that there had been discussion about whether staff could stay in the local government pension scheme, but further legal advice made it apparent that staff were not eligible to remain in the scheme.

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Victoria Austin, GMB Regional Organiser, said: ‘This is the first time nursery workers in South Yorkshire have taken strike action in a generation. They’re angry and are going to fight the council on this.

‘Nursery workers are vital for Barnsley’s future generations. They deserve security and stability for their futures too. Barnsley’s Reform council leadership must change course - for the sake of our town’s children.’

Cllr William Brown, Leader of Barnsley Council, said: ‘We’re disappointed that GMB members have voted in favour of strike action. The decision to transfer these nurseries to another provider was taken to protect jobs and retain these services for families.’

He added: ‘We're continuing to engage with GMB representatives to see if we can find a way forward to end this action and prevent further disruption to services for families.’

Nurseries will also be closed on November 18 and November 26 due to strike action, but the council has confirmed that alternative activities have been arranged for families on these days.