Linking Together

Week #3 Meeting #6

Great to be at a joint Reading & Wokingham meeting on the strike today. Meeting number 6 for me and meeting number 4 for Rosa and Clara (3 this week). It's been a gruelling programme (for me and them) - school, then meeting, then bed - each night but the strength of feeling in each meeting is really energising.

Reading/Wokingham was no exception, with strong opposition to the government's dismantling of state education, and equally strong support for strike action to demand national terms and conditions for teachers in all schools, colleges and academies, and increased school funding.

What are we Fighting FOR?

Week #3 Meeting #5

A great welcome in Milton Keynes this evening and again a fruitful discussion about building support for the ballot. In particular, Reps in Milton Keynes were a pains to point out that this can't just be a defensive struggle to protect what we have left but must be about establishing better terms and conditions for all teachers, whatever kind of school or college they teach in.

One of the key reasons for this, eloquently put forward by MK activists, is that teachers have already lost so much. With admin, cover and even PPA regulations being eroded in academies, and national agreements on pay in tatters, it is not enough to protect what we have. The fact is teachers, and the children they teach, deserve better.

Conversation, Conversation, Conversation

Week #3 Meeting #4

This afternoon, I met NUT activists in Slough for what will be the first of a week of ballot meetings across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Milton Keynes.

The most important point raised at the meeting came from Kate O'Neil, a local activist and member of the Slough NUT committee and it related to how we use material in school. Kate talked about how we should consider any publicity or material, whether a leaflet, poster, T-shirt, badge or anything else, as a conversation piece.