Unions representing more than 350,000 school support staff are to hold another one-day strike in October.

GMB, Unison and Unite will hold a day of action on Tuesday 14 October in their ongoing dispute over pay, after rejecting a 1 per cent pay rise. The unions have already held a strike on 10 July alongside the NUT.

The public sector unions say that the “paltry” rise would mean their members have seen their pay cut by 20 per cent in real terms since 2010 and that, despite offering further talks with the government to resolve the dispute, no further meetings have taken place.

Unison’s head of local government, Heather Wakefield, said: “Employers and government must be left in no doubt that we are serious in this dispute. As sister unions, we stand together to make sure that our members are treated with decency and respect.”

“Our members deserve a fair pay deal and we have to fight together to achieve that,” said GMB national secretary Brian Strutton. “Council leaders should reconsider their parsimonious pay offer and do the right thing by their staff.”

Official figures from the Department for Education revealed that 21 per cent of schools were completely shut as a result of the strike earlier this month, but the NUT claimed that more than half of schools were affected. The NUT has promised to consult its teacher members in the autumn term before deciding whether to hold further strikes.

Related stories:

Teachers’ strike: over half of schools to cancel classes, NUT claims - July 2014

Teachers’ strike: today’s action in pictures - July 2014

Gove: striking teachers motivated by ‘pay and pensions’, not education - July 2014

Thousands of schools to be hit by biggest strike in three years - July 2014

NUT members to strike next month - June 2014

Teachers and support staff could strike together in July - May 2014