School cleaners and caretakers picketed Northern Ireland's Department of Education headquarters today in a protest over a scheme to privatise their jobs.
The workers are all members of Unison and work in the Bangor and Comber areas of Co Down where their schools are being refurbished and rebuilt under the Government's private finance initiative, under which they say they also face seeing their jobs privatised.
Speaking at the picket line in Bangor, Unison regional secretary Ms Patricia McKeown branded the privatisation as "disgraceful" and said workers would suffer.
"We will pay through the nose for 25 years for this very costly private finance initiative," she said.
Ms McKeown added: "This is the first of the many new PFIs announced across Northern Ireland. It would have been so simple to continue providing cleaning, caretaking and school meals services from the South Eastern Education Board."
He said the previous devolved Education Minister Martin McGuinness had, before the Executive was suspended, removed the threat of privatisation only to have the decision reversed following the reintroduction of direct rule.
The union accused the Department of Education of having an "unhealthy enthusiasm" for the privatisation of the jobs of women who were low paid, part-time workers.
"There is something particularly unsavoury about high paid civil servants promoting the exploitation of low paid public service workers," it said.
PA