Protection urged over school closures

The closure of schools across the UK led to calls by unions for reassurance that parents and pupils will be protected.


“Now, more than anything else, the government needs to concentrate on ensuring that children in food poverty are fed properly — these children are not just those on free school meals,” said Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU education union.


The TUC highlighted the problems facing millions of workers whose children are now at home. 


No existing legislation covers this situation, and the TUC warned that unless some form of protection is offered, families will not be able to cope. It called on the government to introduce emergency time-limited changes to allow people to take immediate leave to care for their children, at full pay, reimbursed to the employer by the government as happens with maternity leave.


The TUC also wants this to apply to all workers including those on agency or zero hours contracts, freelancers and the self-employed.


In response to the school closures, Paddy Lillis, general secretary of the Usdaw shopworkers’ union said the union was calling for support for retail staff who have been working extremely hard in response to the outbreak ensuring that people are fed.


“Usdaw has made it clear that, given the scale and impact of this decision, it will not be sufficient to rely on standard company policies or standard time off for dependants regulations,” he emphasised.