By Bernie McAdam, Sandwell NUT The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is gearing up for a national strike on Wednesday 13 March, possibly coinciding with a European TUC Day of Action against austerity. This is a direct response to Tory Education Secretary Michael Gove’s vicious attack on teachers’ pay. His plans will involve […]
By Bernie McAdam, Sandwell NUT Teachers’ unions NUT and NASUWT have announced a joint campaign to defend pensions and protect pay, working conditions and jobs. Teachers will be balloted both for strike action and action short of strike to be taken in the autumn term “should the government refuse to listen”. As yet no clear […]
By Bernie McAdam, Sandwell NUT The National Union of Teachers (NUT) Conference this Easter made abundantly clear to its leaders that more national strike action was needed to stop the Coalition’s pensions attack. A successful motion called for regional strikes in the summer term, culminating in a national strike in June. Within weeks, however, the […]
THE 28 MARCH strike by London schools and colleges showed just how impressive a nation-wide strike could have been. Around 1,500 schools were shut down or severely disrupted, while almost all colleges and most ‘new’ universities faced chaos or closure. Ten thousand marched in central London, bringing traffic to a halt and cheers from passers-by. […]
By Mark Booth AFTER A TURBULENT week of union executive meetings, 300 militants packed into Friends Meeting House for an emergency conference to fight the pensions sell out. It soon became clear to everyone at Unite the Resistance’s gathering that the PCS and NUT leaders would not be calling more strikes in the next few […]
Public education is under attack. Greedy corporations are hell bent on getting their hands on schools, colleges and universities – desperate to make a profit out of education and knowledge. This is having a terrible affect on young people, adult learners and education workers – as the market drives up costs, drives down standards and […]
By a striking Unison Teaching Assistant 8.00am The NUT rep and I mounted a picket at our school – much to the Headteacher’s surprise, who had expected a passive, going-through-the-motions strike. Until yesterday, we had an agreement that seven Unison members would respect the picket line, but this crumbled at the last minute with colleagues […]
Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has announced he will turn 200 “worst-achieving” primary schools into academies next year, writes Rachel Brooks, NUT member
Katharine Birbalsingh wowed the Conservative Party conference with her tales of a south London school, which was “out of control” supposedly because white liberal teachers were afraid of punishing black pupils. Jeremy Drinkall reports on plans to put her right wing educational theories to the test by opening a “Free School” in the area
THIS YEAR’S NUT conference passed important resolutions calling for co-ordinated strikes over pensions and backed calls for a one day public sector general strike. Teachers will now join with hundreds of thousands of other public sector workers on strike on 30 June in defence of their pensions.
Teachers and council workers from Tower Hamlets called on their leaders to organise general strike action today in a mass rally after 2,000 trade unionists, joined by the local community marched against cuts. Council workers in purple Unison jackets were joined by school banners, behind which marched school children, parents and lots of teachers carrying […]
Teachers, civil servants and lecturers are set to lose tens of thousands of pounds from their pensions over a lifetime because the government wants to peg them to the retail price index, which does not take account of the real rise in living costs, in particular housing costs. On top of this, teachers will typically […]
Unions are gearing up to defend public sector pensions in what could be a key battle with the Con-Dems in 2011. The government has condemned the “gold plated” final salary pensions of public sector workers. Several unions are already planning to strike in defence of pensions. Mark Serwotka leader of the Civil servants union PCS […]