A TEACHING assistant has spoken out about the way Durham County Council (DCC) has handled the controversy surrounding new contracts for more than 2,000 workers.

Last month the authority's members voted to terminate contracts in order to introduce new terms and conditions in the face of opposition from staff who work in schools across the county.

And the move was met with an immediate announcement from a trade union that it was "left with no option" but to lodge a formal dispute and issue a ballot for strike action.

Now, one teaching assistant, who works in a Shildon school, has hit out the way the council has behaved and claims that staff are being warned not to speak publicly about their situation.

She said: "We have received three letters from DCC and each one of them have had a different amount for my earnings and my loss - also my three 'compensation' amounts have been different.

"My name was even incorrect on one of the letters, if they can't even get that right, then how are we supposed to trust them? Incidentally the 'compensation' is not that at all it is simply one years loss of income - about £2,000 in most cases.

"It is also very disappointing that any of us who are speaking out and supporting our cause are being issued with warnings from human resources at County Hall. We are only speaking out about the facts of the situation and should be entitled to freedom of speech."

She added: "Contrary to popular belief, and some of the nonsense we have heard, we do not simply tidy the classrooms, clean out paint pots and change reading books - we are a highly skilled bunch of individuals with their own job titles and roles."

Paul Darby, Durham County Council’s corporate director of resources, defended the council's actions and clarified the reason for the three different financial offers.

He said: “It’s really important to remember the context for this review and to note that the changes to term time contracts have already been introduced by almost all other councils across the North East.

“In Durham, staff will have received three letters outlining the formal consultation process since November, relating to the three stages of consultation which have taken place.

“Proposals were revised based on the feedback received, and the suggested compensation payment method was changed as a result of the consultation. That, along with individual changes such as variations in hours or increments across this period, could also have resulted in amendments to previously quoted figures.

“Each compensation quote has been appropriate to individual circumstances at the time of the quote, based on the proposal on the table at the time.

“On average teaching assistants will see around just over a 10% reduction in salary under the proposed term time terms and conditions.

“We are aware of a technical issue that resulted in one set of letters having some employees initials transposed. This did not affect the information contained within them.”

Following the vote, the council will now undertake a process to dismiss TAs and re-engage them on new contracts, which are expected to be implemented by January 2017.