A picket line at Richard Cobden School in Camden Town

A FEMINIST punk band has released a new anthem with all proceeds going towards striking teaching assistants at a Camden Town school.

Yakkie – made up of Janey Starling, Maeve Westall, Laura Ankles and Robin Gatt – recently launched single Lean Out at The Underworld, Camden Town.

The song warns women’s work is undervalued despite keeping society functioning.

The punk rockers have made the record to support striking staff at Richard Cobden School, a group of mainly women who are in a long running dispute with the Town Hall about a pay rise amounting to around £30 a week.

Teaching assistants at other primary schools in the borough are paid more for the same job.

Ms Starling told the New Journal: “I think the fact that they are still refusing to pay them despite it being such a small amount of money shows it is not financial but it is ideological.

“TAs are a majority female workforce. It is a caring profession that is devalued, and that is because that a lot of people feel that work done by women should be done for free.”

Teaching assistants are classroom staff that do many roles, including individual support to children with special educational needs, also supporting teachings and supervising groups.

They are the lowest paid council staff and the annual salary rise that Camden Unison is calling for amounts to less than £2,000 a year for each member of staff.

Ms Starling, who grew up in north London, said that Yakkie had released Lean Out to mark International Women’s Day, which was originally founded as International Women Workers Day.

She said: “The workers part of it is often forgotten on International Women’s Day. We wanted to do something for these working women, but also the parents, and the wider communities that they are helping. We wanted to help their strike fund because we know how important they are.”

The band has recently been tipped by Kerrang Radio as one to watch for the coming year.

The song Lean Out is also a tribute to Dawn Foster, the campaigning journalist who died in 2021 aged 34. She wrote a book with the same name.

Ms Starling, who campaigns for the release of pregnant women from prison, said she had never met Ms Foster but had been inspired by her book that had a “profound impact”, adding: “It’s not about leaning in, it’s about leaning out.”

The striking teaching assistants were out on the picket lines this week once again – showing the Labour-run Town Hall they are not going to back down until fair pay demands are met.

Camden Unison has already registered a boroughwide dispute with the council over pay levels and this week the union is beginning a ballot at Primrose Hill School which could lead to similar industrial action there.

More schools are expected to join the action in the coming months.

This week’s two-day action brings the total strike days up to 18 so far.

At a council meeting in the autumn, teaching assistants told the ruling Labour councillors that they had been on the same wages for 15 years and felt “invisible”.

While the council does not set individual school budgets, the union suggests it could intervene by setting boroughwide pay scales.

Camden Unison branch secretary Liz Wheatley said: “Our members at Richard Cobden school are striking to win. They deserve the same as teaching assistants around the corner who are paid more. And the children deserve the same support as children in a school around the corner.

“But underpaying teaching assistants happens in other schools too, so we are now balloting our members in Primrose Hill school to join the strike action. All of this could be resolved by Camden properly valuing the work these low-paid, mainly women workers do.”

Schools chief Labour councillor Marcus Boyland said last year he would not get involved in individual budgets.

A Camden Council spokesperson said this week: “We understand this is a difficult time for all concerned and we continue to work closely with the schools, governing bodies, and unions as they seek to find a resolution.

“Our priority is to ensure pupils and staff are getting the support they need during this time and that there is minimal disruption to pupils’ learning. Teaching assistant salaries are fully evaluated by experienced job evaluators – this is the same for all roles in Camden to ensure a fair approach.”