Recognising Local Activists at Regional Council

Today, I was very privileged to present the awards for South East Regional Officer and Rep of the Year at our regional council meeting. These awards, which I presented alongside my executive colleague Jackie Baker, recognise best practice across the union, in terms of engaging, organising and supporting members.

The two winners of the awards, David Stalley (Rep of the Year) and Marcia DeCruz (Officer of the Year) both demonstrated the extent to which local activists really are the bedrock of the union. They make the difference as to whether members feel supported, are well organised and develop the collective confidence to improve their working lives.

Unite to Defend Our Members

Below is the text of my speech to the NUT Special Conference on 5th November 2016, seconding the motion that NUT should endorse, and put to a ballot of members, the proposal to amalgamate with ATL to form the National Eduation Union.

On 25th June 1870, the National Union of Elementary Teachers was formed, through the amalgamation of a number of local, regional and sectional associations. It was formed in the context of the fight against performance-related pay and the controversy surrounding the 1870 Education Act.

What Kind of Union Democracy Do We Want?

In a recent blog post, I wrote the following about the unity discussions with ATL: Throughout the negotiations, both teams have been committed to the principle of a truly democratic union. Not just the passive democracy of electing the leadership, but the active democracy of involving everyone's voice, experiences and talents in our decision-making.

In this post, I want to explore further what I mean by this and what it might mean for us as a union.

Who Will Be in the New Union?

Today, I attended meetings of both Oxfordshire and Wokingham NUT (thanks to Oxfordshire for letting me leave early!). Again, a major topic of discussion was the new union. In particular, members were interested in who would be in the new union, given that NUT currently only admits those with teaching qualifications or training to teach, while ATL has support staff members, and NUT organises in England and Wales, while ATL also has members in Scotland and the north of Ireland.

The answer is simple. Existing members of both unions would transfer to the new union and all membership categories in either existing union (e.g. support staff, teachers, lecturers) will be membership categories in the new union.

New Leadership and Unity on the Horizon

A lot has happened over the past month - indeed so much that I don't seem to have had time to report on any of it! So I figured I would sit down now and catch up (although I'll leave out the KS2 production, pupil handover meetings and preparation for my Y5 class next year!):

• Firstly, Kevin Courtney was elected General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers. I was proud to support Kevin's campaign and to be a signatory to the letter of endorsement from current and past Executive members and National Officers. Kevin is not only a fantastic campaigner and leader but has a strategic vision for the union, and a vision for education which will be invaluable in guiding us over the next few years.