National Education Union confirmed

In an historic decision today, members of the NUT and ATL have voted overwhelmingly to unite in the creation of a new National Education Union.

This is a significant step forward for teacher trades unionism, which has been divided for far too long, exposing significant weakness in the face of a government assault on our conditions of service and our education system. The new union would bring together teachers and other education professionals in a single organisation of half a million members.

Unity is not a panacea but a single, powerful voice for education professionals would decisively shift the balance of power in the struggle for education and this decision is the first step towards building that united voice.

Now the hard work begins.

This decision offers an historic opportunity to build our workplace organisation and strengthen our lay structures across the country to increase the influence that teachers and other education professionals have.

Now is the time for existing and new members to engage with the National Education Union, for new workplace reps to step forward and for us to work together to build the education system we want to see for our students.