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.

Piecing Together the Jigsaw

Week #5 Meeting #11

My second meeting of the day was a joint teacher-parent meeting in Thame Town Hall. This one actually came about because a parent contacted me out of the blue several weeks ago to say local parents were concerned about the white paper and, if they booked a room and invited both parents and teachers, would I come and speak.

Obviously, I was only to happy to agree, not just because it would be our first NUT meeting in Thame for some time but also because I was keen to learn more about parental concerns. We publicised the meeting to local teachers and it was publicised to local parents by the organisers. On the day, we had a few teachers (mainly local school Reps), and a few parents (mainly from a particular local primary school).

NUTea

Week #5 Meeting #10

Great meeting with NUT members at Cheney School today. As with other meetings, there was a real strength of feeling about what this government is doing to education and a real willingness to fight for decent national terms and conditions that apply to all teachers, in schools and academies. However, it was when we got onto school level organising ideas that things got interesting!

 

The school has a 'staff tea' every Friday where each department takes a turn to host the staff for tea and cakes after school. So, on Friday 10th, the school NUT group will take a turn hosting staff tea, with a variety of green iced cakes and tea (not exclusively green tea)!

The Importance of Unity

Week #4 Meeting #9

Really pleased today to discuss the Education White Paper not just with NUT members but also the NASUWT Rep at The Oxford Academy. Whilst teachers continue to be represented by a number of different organisations, dividing and weakening our voice, it is essential that we try to co-ordinate our approach as much as possible at national, local and most importantly workplace level.

While there are different democratic structures, there will always be the potential for different strategy and tactics to emerge. We must seek to minimise this in the short term by open co-ooeration and eradicate it in the long term by bringing together teacher organisations into a single union that can speak for all education professionals.

So Much Support Out There!

Today was really uplifting in terms of showing me just how much support there is out there for our campaign. It has been a long week, starting with Sunday recording sessions for our own protest song - #ThisSchool:

The girls and I went down and really enjoyed the day, singing with others about something we passionately believe in.

West Oxfordshire Stands Up

Week #3 Meeting #8

Another lively meeting in Witney, West Oxfordshire today. There's definitely something good about organising a strike meeting in the heart of the Prime Minister's constituency when this government is so responsible for what has happened to education.

Again, there was huge support for the strike action the NUT is taking and for our broader campaign against the proposals in the government's white paper.

It was also positive to be holding the first of what look set to be regular meetings in West Oxfordshire - for more info, check out West Oxfordshire NUT on Facebook.

Didcot Stands Up

Week #3 Meeting #7

First meeting in Oxfordshire tonight, ably led by our local Secretary, Sarah Carter. Sarah drew attention to the way in which the drive to academisation impacts directly on teachers' terms and conditions. If there are no maintained schools left, and no teachers employed by local government, the schools Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document and Burgundy Book would cease to exist.

This would affect all teachers, in maintained schools and existing academies, in particular those in Oxfordshire, where all academies follow the same terms and conditions as maintained schools.

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.

The Government Climbdown and the NUT Strike

Yesterday, the government announced a significant climbdown in relation to forced academisation. The white paper will no longer include proposals for legislation to force the conversion of every maintained school by 2022. This is a significant victory both because it withdraws one of the worst clauses of this paper and because it shows that, when teachers, parents and governors act together, we can win real concessions from government.

However, the government has replaced this legislation with sweeping powers for the Secretary of State to order the conversion of entire local authority areas in one go, and retains the aim of converting all schools by 2022. In addition, the other provisions of the white paper remain, including abolishing QTS, removing parent governors, and the threat to teachers pay and conditions.

Cakes, Balloons, Pay and Conditions!

Week #2 Meeting #3

This evening, I met with Bracknell Forest NUT activists to discuss building for the NUT strike ballot. It was a well-attended meeting with a lively discussion of the issues leading to the dispute, in particular the threat to teachers' terms and conditions posed by the combination of forced academisation and diminishing school funding.

Activist Meetings in District 18

OK. So the first two meetings (in Windsor & Maidenhead and West Berkshire) have now taken place but they have already been replaced by two additional meetings in Banbury and Thame (both Oxfordshire). This brings the current list up to ten again:

• 4th May - Bracknell Forest - 4.30pm - Peacock Farm RG12 8SS
• 9th May - Slough - 4.30pm - Chalvey Community Centre SL1 2SL
• 10th May - Buckinghamshire - 5pm - Beaconsfield School HP9 1SJ
• 10th May - Milton Keynes - 5.30pm - St Paul's Catholic School MK6 5EN
• 11th May - Reading / Wokingham - 4.30pm - Maiden Erlegh School RG6 7HS
• 12th May - Oxfordshire (Didcot) 5.30pm - St Birinus School OX11 8AZ
• 13th May - Oxfordshire (Witney) - 4pm - The Fleece OX28 4AZ
• 18th May - Slough / Windsor & Maidenhead - 5pm - SportsAble SL6 1BN
• 20th May - Oxfordshire (Banbury) - 4pm - Banbury Town Hall OX16 5JS
• 23rd May - Oxfordshire (Thame) - 7pm - Thame Town Hall OX9 3DP

Reaching Out to Members

Week #1 Meeting #2

Today, I was in Thatcham to meet with West Berkshire activists about the ballot campaign. The meeting was divided into two parts. There was a training on academy conversion in the afternoon with Regional Officer Nick Childs, during which we also discussed how to reach out to schools across the authority, and I led a briefing after school on the white paper, in which we discussed how to engage members at school level.

Green Fridays: Show Your Support for NUT Action on Pay and Conditions

As part of our broad campaign against the white paper, and in support of our ballot for strike action over school funding and national pay and conditions, NUT activists on social media have proposed a 'Green Fridays' initiative. The idea is that NUT members and supporters are encouraged to post photos of themselves and their colleagues wearing green on Fridays, using the hashtag #greenfridays, as a visual expression of support for these campaigns.

We got started early with the Eastern Region Young Teachers last weekend:

Engaging the Community: The Campaign Kicks Off!

Week #1 Meeting #1

Today, it felt like our white paper campaign had kicked off in earnest locally with the first of 10 meetings for Reps & activists  in District 18 (or so I thought). The first meeting was in Windsor & Maidenhead, where a new committee has recently been elected after several years of no activity in the area. Much of the discussion focused on how to engage the wider community in opposition to the white paper.

National Executive: White Paper Campaign and National Action Campaign

Kevin Courtney opened this afternoon's National Executive meeting by describing the White Paper as an existential threat to state education and an existential threat to our terms and conditions. He set out the NUT's aims in our campaign, not just to defeat the white paper but also to slow down and stop voluntary conversion of academies. While the white paper is still in play, voluntary conversion is essentially doing the Tory's work for them. Additionally, there can be no genuine voluntary conversion when the policy context is pressuring schools down this route.

National Executive: General Secretary's Report

We are now only into the third week since conference and the union has been working at full pace to deliver material for the ballot and the wider campaign against the white paper. Christine thanked the union staff for all their work.

National Executive Report

The General Secretary reported on the excellent response to the sixth form strike and the landmark case the Union won in the High Court. This centred on the government's attempt to get an injunction to prevent the strike. Their argument was that a strike over funding was a political strike (which is illegal under our repressive anti-union laws) and not a legitimate trade dispute.

The Union successfully argued that, because funding allocations from government have a direct impact on our members' terms and conditions by constricting the employers' room to negotiate. This judgement sets an important precedent for Unions fighting government funding cuts and the politics of austerity.

A Crucial Time for Education

As I prepare to travel to London for the National Executive today and tomorrow, I am struck by what a crucial time this is for education.

We have a government using a mantra of austerity to progressively underfund schools and sixth form colleges, whilst enforcing the mass privatisation of schools by an act of parliament, and changing the very nature of education through high-stakes standardised testing and hyper-accountability. The past couple of months have shown this in the extreme. At primary level, we have seen new assessments introduced which impose unrealistic and unhelpful targets on young children in a narrow range of skills. What is more, children will be expected to sit these tests in a couple of months, leaving teachers wondering how they will explain to children and their parents that they are no longer doing well but are now below 'national expectations' - that the government has arbitrarily deemed their child a failure aged 7 or 11.