By an NUT member
After stalling for months Education Secretary, Alan Johnson finally responded to teacher unions requests for a review of the current pay award. In his submission of evidence to the STRB (School Teachers’ Review Body) for the 2008/11 award he said “...if teachers get more than 2% it will take away money aimed at one-to-one tuition for vulnerable students.”
In the world of Alan Johnson, greedy teachers want to take money from the most needy of young people! He has avoided making a final, concrete decision by referring the current pay claim to the STRB also.
The present year-on-year increase in pay is well below the level of inflation. This means teachers young and old are faced with mounting debt, spiralling housing costs and increased utility bills. Inflation rates have risen twice this year, at times exceeding 4%. These levels should have triggered an immediate review under existing agreements.
Anyone who has recently listened to Gordon Brown will know exactly what the outcome of the STRB judgement is likely to be: 2%.
At an NUT Executive meeting in May, members were promised a “robust response” on this issue. Meeting again on 21 June, they scheduled a ballot of members for some time in the “Autumn Term”, anywhere between September and December. The union leadership appears wary of pushing forward with action independently of other teacher organisations.
Chris Keates of the NASUWT has already made it perfectly clear that her union will not take action over pay. Rather than make efforts to coordinate action with the CWU, PCS and Unison, NUT General Secretary, Steve Sinnott, is pinning his hopes on a lost cause.
The right-wing of the Executive appear to harbour a belief, illustrated by the stalling tactics over “unity”, that the membership is not ready for action. In such a situation it is up to the left to give a lead. If we did not believe we could mobilise members on such a vital issue, why did we bother fighting for a militant pay policy at NUT conference? If it is not possible to fight alone, how come PCS members fought alone, why did postal workers vote in their tens of thousands for strike action on pay?
Bradford NUT conducted a sample survey on pay. A 25% turnout produced a 90% yes vote for action. This shows something significant about the lie of the land. The Times Education Supplement recently carried a survey of teachers that showed pay as the issue of most concern. If a survey can get such a high turnout without any real mobilisation from the national union, then a real ballot preceded by a serious, positive campaign could up the turnout and maintain a solid yes vote.
Union activists will return to schools and union branches in September with no concrete date for action. No time line to work towards. A campaign that includes local agitation and solidarity work with other public sector unions will help, but the NUT should not bind itself to the idea that members aren’t yet ready for action. Recent ballots in Leeds have shown that you don’t need months of preparation for a positive vote on action. NUT members are ready to act now.
