The deal with Ealing council follows a one-day strike in June (News, 7 June) and 17 months of talks between the Ealing branch of the public service union Unison and the council's education and social services management.
The 46 nursery officers, working with vulnerable children in the council's four nursery centres - Disraeli, Han-bury, Hanwell and Windmill - will receive full backdated pay to 1 April and a one-off payment of 1,000 each for injury to feelings. Under the new system they will be earning approximately Pounds 19,200.
The nursery officers have been undertaking new responsibilities since a reorganisation in 1996, but their pay had not been reviewed in more than 11 years. Unison had accused Ealing Council of reneging on a pay deal that would have brought them in line with other local authority workers.
Brian Blake, Ealing Unison convenor for the social services department, said, 'This group of workers was very low paid and doing a highly skilled and demanding job. They provide a very important service to vulnerable people in the borough despite facing hardships themselves because of not being able to live on their low pay.
'The pay award is a considerable improvement, but still low for London. It is certainly a positive step forward to see a group of low paid workers getting a decent pay increase. There has always been a problem of recruiting staff but this pay award will help make it easier to get good quality staff and take the service further.'
An Ealing Council spokeswoman said, 'We value our staff highly, and the settlement reflects our concern for staff morale during the past few months.'