The government has announced a major attack on the future of Local Authority schooling - and teachers' national pay and conditions - by announcing that it will rush through an Academies Bill that will allow all schools to become academies - and just through a vote at a governing body meeting. Many schools could become academies before teachers and parents were even really aware of it!
The legislation is being rushed through so that supposedly ‘outstanding’ schools will be able to make the change by September.
This threatens a major acceleration of the privatisation of schools and dismantling of Local Authority services. It is also designed to be a major attack on teacher unions, dividing teachers into a whole series of different employers so that national pay and conditions can be broken up and cuts driven through more easily.
Teaching unions have to make clear that we aren't going to accept these attacks. An emergency national rally or demonstration in defence of education needs to be organised urgently. Gove and Cameron have to be shown that unions are ready to defend teachers and education.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
SE Public Sector Unions Plan United Struggles
Tuesday's meeting of SERTUC's Public Services Commitee had to be moved to a larger room at Congress House - which reflected the wish of trade unionits to come together to respond to the attacks being thrown at us by the Con/Dem Coalition.
Kevin Courtney, NUT DGS, was the guest speaker, introducing a wide-ranging discussion on how trade unions could build joint action. Some of the action points agreed were that:
Kevin Courtney, NUT DGS, was the guest speaker, introducing a wide-ranging discussion on how trade unions could build joint action. Some of the action points agreed were that:
- The TUC develops an alternative economic plan to counter the claimed economic necessity for cuts.
- The TUC organises a national demonstration to oppose cuts to public services
- Delegates initiate, either through Trades Councils or individual trade union branches or regional structures as appropriate, joint committees and meetings to prepare opposition to cuts in their local areas.
- We organise - provisionally in October - a further SERTUC Conference to build from the success of our 6 March Conference. It was proposed that this should take place in October.
- As Chair, that I send a message of support to BASSA in support of their ongoing strike action.
Friday, 21 May 2010
They're getting ready for battle - are we?
The FT today spells out exactly what the financiers and bankers expect from their new Government:
"The full terms of their coalition reveal that one set of voluntary organisations should be afraid. Before the election, the coalition parties aimed to avoid a direct confrontation with the unions. They now appear braced for a pitched battle.
The government must rein in a fiscal deficit of 11.1 per cent of output. Public jobs and pay must bear the brunt of spending cuts. In the state sector, 68 per cent of employees are bound by collective pay agreements.
The parties’ manifestos suggested plans to outflank the unions. They wanted to force through tight pay settlements while undermining the unions by contracting out an increased share of public services to private providers. The coalition agreement sets out a path to direct confrontation.
Employment terms for the police will be reviewed. A commission will investigate whether public sector pensions are affordable. These consultations are certain to recommend cuts. The coalition is using them to buy political cover to slash overtime hours, pay, perks and pensions.
More explosively, the new government intends to attack national pay bargaining. It wants to “reform the existing rigid national pay and conditions rules…” for schools. If anything, the coalition’s ambition should be greater. National pay bargaining is a problem well beyond education.
The coalition must prepare itself for the battle ahead. Organised labour has seen off British governments before. If this administration is to prevail, it must have a clear strategy to tackle the pay rigidities of state employees that damage both the public and private sectors".
The coalition is getting itself ready for a battle - so must we.
It goes without saying that we have to prepare for any action before issuing any ballot. However, we have to make clear straight away from the June NUT National Executive that a national ballot for strike action will be taken to answer a threat to remove protect national pay and conditions. When the Government makes a threat like that, we have to quickly and sharply make clear that we will firmly respond.
The exact details of the attacks to come will become clearer in the months ahead but we need to get on the front-foot and start to prepare the call for the action that will be needed now - and approaching other unions for support in advance.The National Union needs to start now by setting the tone, making clear that we are preparing for national action, organising local and regional meetings to explain the threats we face.
Local campaigns linking together unions in anti-cuts committees are important to develop, actions around budget day on June 22nd will help too. What can also really hit the headlines and mobilise members in the short-term is a major national demonstration against the cuts and attacks - as we agreed to call for at Annual Conference.
"The full terms of their coalition reveal that one set of voluntary organisations should be afraid. Before the election, the coalition parties aimed to avoid a direct confrontation with the unions. They now appear braced for a pitched battle.
The government must rein in a fiscal deficit of 11.1 per cent of output. Public jobs and pay must bear the brunt of spending cuts. In the state sector, 68 per cent of employees are bound by collective pay agreements.
The parties’ manifestos suggested plans to outflank the unions. They wanted to force through tight pay settlements while undermining the unions by contracting out an increased share of public services to private providers. The coalition agreement sets out a path to direct confrontation.
Employment terms for the police will be reviewed. A commission will investigate whether public sector pensions are affordable. These consultations are certain to recommend cuts. The coalition is using them to buy political cover to slash overtime hours, pay, perks and pensions.
More explosively, the new government intends to attack national pay bargaining. It wants to “reform the existing rigid national pay and conditions rules…” for schools. If anything, the coalition’s ambition should be greater. National pay bargaining is a problem well beyond education.
The coalition must prepare itself for the battle ahead. Organised labour has seen off British governments before. If this administration is to prevail, it must have a clear strategy to tackle the pay rigidities of state employees that damage both the public and private sectors".
The coalition is getting itself ready for a battle - so must we.
It goes without saying that we have to prepare for any action before issuing any ballot. However, we have to make clear straight away from the June NUT National Executive that a national ballot for strike action will be taken to answer a threat to remove protect national pay and conditions. When the Government makes a threat like that, we have to quickly and sharply make clear that we will firmly respond.
The exact details of the attacks to come will become clearer in the months ahead but we need to get on the front-foot and start to prepare the call for the action that will be needed now - and approaching other unions for support in advance.The National Union needs to start now by setting the tone, making clear that we are preparing for national action, organising local and regional meetings to explain the threats we face.
Local campaigns linking together unions in anti-cuts committees are important to develop, actions around budget day on June 22nd will help too. What can also really hit the headlines and mobilise members in the short-term is a major national demonstration against the cuts and attacks - as we agreed to call for at Annual Conference.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Coalition announces attack on national pay and conditions
"We will reform the existing rigid national pay and conditions rules to give schools greater freedoms to pay good teachers more and deal with poor performance".
This statement from the Coalition's "Programme for Government" is a clear statement of intent to attack to break the national Schoolteachers' Pay and Conditions Document - at a time of cuts. This will lead to individualised attacks on pay and conditions unless we fight together to defend - and improve - national pay and conditions before it is too late.
This is such a significant attack that we need to respond immediately - and move to a national ballot for strike action at the next Executive. We should consider an emergency meeting of Div Secs to prepare for action. We should invite other teacher unions to take action with us too.
We cannot afford to hold back - and need to send a clear signal that we are ready to respond.
This statement from the Coalition's "Programme for Government" is a clear statement of intent to attack to break the national Schoolteachers' Pay and Conditions Document - at a time of cuts. This will lead to individualised attacks on pay and conditions unless we fight together to defend - and improve - national pay and conditions before it is too late.
This is such a significant attack that we need to respond immediately - and move to a national ballot for strike action at the next Executive. We should consider an emergency meeting of Div Secs to prepare for action. We should invite other teacher unions to take action with us too.
We cannot afford to hold back - and need to send a clear signal that we are ready to respond.
Sunday, 16 May 2010
CON-DEM-ned to cuts ?… not if we organise joint union action
The May meeting of the NUT National Executive gathered only days after David Cameron had finally been confirmed as Prime Minister. Every teacher will be wondering what this Tory/Liberal coalition will mean for education, for our living standards and for the prospects for our students and their families.
The hard truth is that this will be a government of cuts, “savage cuts” in the words of ‘Deputy Clegg’. Even a Labour-led government would have been under pressure to make up for lost time and start the attacks on pay, pensions and public services that have already begun in countries like Greece, Spain and Ireland. Despite the serious risk of provoking a ‘double-dip recession’, a Cameron government will certainly push ahead with trying to slash the deficit – at our expense. The £6 billion worth of cuts that have already been declared will turn out to be just the tip of an enormous iceberg.
London’s Labour Councils will be under pressure from voters who elected them to fight the cuts - not to carry out Westminster dictats.
It’s true that both the Conservatives and Lib Dems have talked about creating a ‘pupil premium’ to support disadvantaged pupils. But, instead of finding extra funding, new initiatives may be paid for by cutting elsewhere. The Department for Education has already announced that £55bn allocated to Building Schools for the Future rebuilding plans is under threat.
Instead of genuinely funding additional needs, savings may be directed towards the development of so-called ‘free schools’, one of new Education Secretary Michael Gove’s favourite ideas. They will be publicised as allowing parents and charities to set up new schools. In reality, as Sweden has shown, it will be big education businesses that will really profit by being allowed to set up new chains of schools.
As well as ‘free schools’, the Tories will also want to accelerate the Academies programme, further privatising education and undermining teachers’ national pay and conditions. “It’s about getting local authorities out of the picture” as a ‘Whitehall source’ told the Guardian (May 15).
Pensions could also soon be in the firing-line. The coalition parties’ ‘negotiations agreement’ included a commitment to “establishing an independent commission to review the long term affordability of public sector pensions”. We discussed on the Salaries Committee how David Laws, Liberal Democrat millionaire and now Chief Secretary to the Treasury, had already suggested reducing the contributions that teachers’ employers have to put into the scheme. Teachers would presumably either have to pay more or see their pension benefits cut.
This is a sombre list of threats. But they are not inevitable – as long as we get organised. This ‘government of losers’ has no solid support for its cuts programme – cuts that were never spelled out in all the superficial ‘presidential debates’ in any case. Many voters simply opted for what they saw as the ‘least bad’ choice on the ballot paper rather than voting with any enthusiasm. Certainly many teachers who voted Liberal Democrat in the hope of ‘change’ will already feel let down.
Where European Governments have already announced cuts, teaching and public sector unions have responded with demonstrations and strike action. The NUT General Secretary, Christine Blower, has sent our support through ETUCE (the European teachers’ unions) to Greek teachers taking ongoing action to protect their pay and pensions. Spanish public sector unions have responded immediately to the announcement of a ‘surprise’ cut of 5% in salaries with a joint national strike on June 2nd.
We mustn’t sit back and wait for the axe to fall. Instead, we have to start to prepare for the same kind of firm action. That’s why I spoke up at the National Executive to ask that the Union sends out a clear message to members that we will be opposing Government attacks. We need to be putting in place the policy agreed at 2010 Conference that called for:
• NUT associations to approach other union branches to build united campaigns to defend public services. Every Inner London Association should be building those links and planning for joint meetings
• Approaching the TUC to propose a national demonstration to warn the incoming Government of our determination to act to defend jobs, pay, pensions and services.
Christine Blower confirmed that the NUT will be attending the TUC’s Public Services Liaison Group on June 8th to plan with other unions. The Union is also preparing a joint conference in the autumn to discuss how unions and campaign groups can work together to defend education from cuts and privatisation.
The hard truth is that this will be a government of cuts, “savage cuts” in the words of ‘Deputy Clegg’. Even a Labour-led government would have been under pressure to make up for lost time and start the attacks on pay, pensions and public services that have already begun in countries like Greece, Spain and Ireland. Despite the serious risk of provoking a ‘double-dip recession’, a Cameron government will certainly push ahead with trying to slash the deficit – at our expense. The £6 billion worth of cuts that have already been declared will turn out to be just the tip of an enormous iceberg.
London’s Labour Councils will be under pressure from voters who elected them to fight the cuts - not to carry out Westminster dictats.
It’s true that both the Conservatives and Lib Dems have talked about creating a ‘pupil premium’ to support disadvantaged pupils. But, instead of finding extra funding, new initiatives may be paid for by cutting elsewhere. The Department for Education has already announced that £55bn allocated to Building Schools for the Future rebuilding plans is under threat.
Instead of genuinely funding additional needs, savings may be directed towards the development of so-called ‘free schools’, one of new Education Secretary Michael Gove’s favourite ideas. They will be publicised as allowing parents and charities to set up new schools. In reality, as Sweden has shown, it will be big education businesses that will really profit by being allowed to set up new chains of schools.
As well as ‘free schools’, the Tories will also want to accelerate the Academies programme, further privatising education and undermining teachers’ national pay and conditions. “It’s about getting local authorities out of the picture” as a ‘Whitehall source’ told the Guardian (May 15).
Pensions could also soon be in the firing-line. The coalition parties’ ‘negotiations agreement’ included a commitment to “establishing an independent commission to review the long term affordability of public sector pensions”. We discussed on the Salaries Committee how David Laws, Liberal Democrat millionaire and now Chief Secretary to the Treasury, had already suggested reducing the contributions that teachers’ employers have to put into the scheme. Teachers would presumably either have to pay more or see their pension benefits cut.
This is a sombre list of threats. But they are not inevitable – as long as we get organised. This ‘government of losers’ has no solid support for its cuts programme – cuts that were never spelled out in all the superficial ‘presidential debates’ in any case. Many voters simply opted for what they saw as the ‘least bad’ choice on the ballot paper rather than voting with any enthusiasm. Certainly many teachers who voted Liberal Democrat in the hope of ‘change’ will already feel let down.
Where European Governments have already announced cuts, teaching and public sector unions have responded with demonstrations and strike action. The NUT General Secretary, Christine Blower, has sent our support through ETUCE (the European teachers’ unions) to Greek teachers taking ongoing action to protect their pay and pensions. Spanish public sector unions have responded immediately to the announcement of a ‘surprise’ cut of 5% in salaries with a joint national strike on June 2nd.
We mustn’t sit back and wait for the axe to fall. Instead, we have to start to prepare for the same kind of firm action. That’s why I spoke up at the National Executive to ask that the Union sends out a clear message to members that we will be opposing Government attacks. We need to be putting in place the policy agreed at 2010 Conference that called for:
• NUT associations to approach other union branches to build united campaigns to defend public services. Every Inner London Association should be building those links and planning for joint meetings
• Approaching the TUC to propose a national demonstration to warn the incoming Government of our determination to act to defend jobs, pay, pensions and services.
Christine Blower confirmed that the NUT will be attending the TUC’s Public Services Liaison Group on June 8th to plan with other unions. The Union is also preparing a joint conference in the autumn to discuss how unions and campaign groups can work together to defend education from cuts and privatisation.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Discussing workload in Westminster
The election is over - now the battles begin! As I travelled to Westminster NUT's AGM, the City Editor of the Evening Standard was already demanding that a Clegg/Cameron Government imposed a five year freeze on pay, jobs and department spending.
The NUT can be proud that - before they have even sorted out who the Government will be - we have helped to severely dent the league tables through our joint SATs boycott with the NAHT.
But the issue of workload remains an even higher priority for most teachers. That was the topic that Westiminster NUT asked me to speak on at their AGM last night. It gave me the first opportunity since Annual Conference to carry out the policy that we agreed in Liverpool - to consult members over the strike and non-strike action that they would support in preparation for a national ballot for action over workload.
The debate confirmed that teachers know that we can't keep puttting up with the long hours that are driving teachers out of the profession. There was general support for an acction approach where the Union would declare a limit on activities that teachers would be prepared to carry out - either a range of specific tasks and/or an overall limit of weekly working hours. Teachers also pointed out that action on class sizes would gain support from parents.
Above all, there was a feeling that we had to go out and convince members to act - and then take firm national action together.
The NUT can be proud that - before they have even sorted out who the Government will be - we have helped to severely dent the league tables through our joint SATs boycott with the NAHT.
But the issue of workload remains an even higher priority for most teachers. That was the topic that Westiminster NUT asked me to speak on at their AGM last night. It gave me the first opportunity since Annual Conference to carry out the policy that we agreed in Liverpool - to consult members over the strike and non-strike action that they would support in preparation for a national ballot for action over workload.
The debate confirmed that teachers know that we can't keep puttting up with the long hours that are driving teachers out of the profession. There was general support for an acction approach where the Union would declare a limit on activities that teachers would be prepared to carry out - either a range of specific tasks and/or an overall limit of weekly working hours. Teachers also pointed out that action on class sizes would gain support from parents.
Above all, there was a feeling that we had to go out and convince members to act - and then take firm national action together.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
SATS BOYCOTT GROWING!
Reports from around the country show that the boycott is gathering strength. Over 70% of primary schools are boycotting in Kirklees, over 60% in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets, over 50% in Bradford, Barnsley, Hammeersmith &Fulham, Greenwich, Liverpool, Wakefield, Southend ...
In my Lewisham Association, we are now nearly at 40% - and rising. Schools that the NUT and NAHT think are boycotting include: Rushey Green, Ashmead, Childeric, Holbeach, Baring, Tidemill, Deptford Park, Christ Church, St.James Hatcham, Horniman, St Mary Magdalene, Torridon Juniors, Edmund Waller, Myatt Gardens, Holy Cross, Sandhurst Juniors, Gordonbrock, Dalamin, Kelvin Grove, St.Saviours, Launcelot, John Ball, St.Michaels, Lee Manor...
In my Lewisham Association, we are now nearly at 40% - and rising. Schools that the NUT and NAHT think are boycotting include: Rushey Green, Ashmead, Childeric, Holbeach, Baring, Tidemill, Deptford Park, Christ Church, St.James Hatcham, Horniman, St Mary Magdalene, Torridon Juniors, Edmund Waller, Myatt Gardens, Holy Cross, Sandhurst Juniors, Gordonbrock, Dalamin, Kelvin Grove, St.Saviours, Launcelot, John Ball, St.Michaels, Lee Manor...
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