Education unions

On the day before the 28 March pensions strike for local government I was working in a Geography class. It was the last period of the day. Year 9 i.e. 14 year olds. They had taken little notice of the supply teacher during the lesson on the grounds that “supply” translates as “won’t be back tomorrow, therefore no comeback if we misbehave”. As the students filed out when the bell went, I wished them all a pleasant day off for the next day. A group of students stayed behind to ask me what it was all about. “Can we come on your picket line tomorrow?” “Will we get into trouble if we do?” “Any...

By Daniel Randall, NATIONAL UNION OF STUDENTS (NUS) executive (personal capacity) In a recent press release, NUS has “condemned” the decision by the lecturers’ union AUT to refuse to set exams (as part of their pay dispute). The student organisation has vowed to “up the pressure” to “demand” that AUT back down. Leading NUS officers such as National President Kat Fletcher have said that they believe the “immediate priority” is to demand that the AUT sets exams. A letter signed by sabbatical officers from 20 of NUS’s member unions recently appeared in the Independent. Admirably, pro-strike...

ENS is calling for signatories to the following statement. You can add your name by emailing volsunga@gmail.com Whilst it is unfortunate if students’ degrees are disrupted, we cannot allow university bosses to divide us by playing the interests of students off against the interests of workers on campus. A quality Higher Education sector staffed by well-motivated and well-paid workers is in all our interests. That means we have to support every struggle towards it, even if that means facing some disruption. NUS’s demands on the AUT to call off aspects of their assessment boycott will have the...

NATFHE, the union which represents teaching staff in Further Education, has agreed to organise a two-day strike on 2 and 3 May. This is in response to the 1.5% pay rise offered for 2006-7. The strike takes place in advance of scheduled talks. The two-day strike will be held the week before the second round of pay talks is due to start. The union says the strike will be the start of a programme of escalating industrial action, up to and including indefinite strike action. Six further education unions, representing other workers, have also rejected the offer. The unions have made a claim for a 7...

The 2005 NATFHE (college and newer universities lecturers’ union) conference passed a motion — written by a member of the Socialist Workers Party — which declared, “to criticise Israeli policy or institutions is not anti-semitic.” But many of the criticisms of Israel are anti-semitic. That the conference did not recognise this is one indication of the disease of “left” anti-semitism that currently exists in the union. Rather than oppose the motion, general secretary Paul Mackney (a former member of the SWP, then called IS), “interpreted” the clause to mean, “to criticise Israeli government...

On Thursday 23 February, Camden (north London) branch of the National Union of Teachers drew over 100 people to a public meeting against the Education White Paper. A branch of CASE, the Campaign for the Advancement of State Education, was set up from the meeting as a vehicle for a united campaign by teachers and parents against the Government’s plans. Disappointing in the meeting was the fact that none of the platform speakers — including Christine Blower, assistant general secretary of the NUT — went beyond denouncing the White Paper as “nonsense”, or said anything about how it could be...

By Becky Crocker The 2 March demonstration in Westminster against the Government's plans for schools, called by Ealing NUT, was about a hundred strong. Despite the poor turn out, activists from NUT, UNISON and other unions showed determination to defeat this bill. The demonstration was followed by a rally at Westminster Central Hall, where a number of speakers called for an end to selection and demanded high quality, publicly-funded and accountable local schools. The NUT's Deputy General Secretary Christine Blower advocated wholesale opposition to the bill, not a compromise with the government...

By Tom Unterrainer, Assistant Secretary Nottingham NUT (personal capacity) The publication of an Education White Paper last year commenced months of wrangling, negotiations and campaigning that has gone to the ideological heart of the Labour Party. MPs and party members lined up with education unions to denounce proposals to unleash rampant market-driven measures upon schools. Up and down the country local associations of the National Union of Teachers held protest meetings, Constituency Labour Parties debated the issue and internal groupings like “Compass” issued pamphlets denouncing the...

By Pat Murphy, Leeds NUT The new pay structure for teachers affects those who take on extra responsibilities beyond their own class teaching, e.g. heads of departments, heads of year, key stage co-ordinators in primary schools etc. The old system meant that these people were on management allowances (MAs). A new system changes this to “teaching and learning responsibilites” (TLRs). All schools were required to review their entire staffing structure by 31 December 2005 to abolish MAs and move over to TLRs. This change is affecting the pay and pensions of thousands of teachers. Why? 1. There is...

By Daniel Randall, NUS NEC (PC) On 7 March academic staff in higher education — members of NATFHE and the AUT — took strike action in support of their pay claim. The nationwide strike was well-supported. The unions have been engaged in a long-running battle with their employers over pay, which the unions say has been diminishing in real terms for years. According to TUC figures the average higher education worker does nine hours work per week unpaid. In money terms that amounts to £10,216 per year. After accepting a 3% increase on this year's pay deal (the year to July 2006), the AUT and...