09.11.1995

Teachers’ union action sabotaged

THE Education Institute of Scotland organises teachers and lecturers in both day schools and further education. Therefore the affairs of both sectors are seen to be closely connected by EIS members.

When FE colleges were removed from local authority control a massive attack was launched on the national lecturers’ contract. Two colleges, Jewel and Esk Valley (in Lothian region) and Falkirk (Central region) went as far as to derecognise unions. Worse was to come when in spring of this year the threat of redundancies was announced in both colleges.

The Labour-controlled employers’ body, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, has long indicated its desire to scrap the national teachers’ contract.

A concerted effort was made by the Scottish Federation of Socialist Teachers to ensure the issue was discussed at the national AGM in June. The new national president, Malcolm Maciver, argued that college members had not received their redundancy notices yet so the issue need not be discussed!

After the AGM, as if waiting to see the official EIS response, the redundancy notices went out.

After the conference many delegates attended a meeting which formed Scottish Teachers Against Redundancy (Star), pledged first of all to fight for a Special General Meeting.

The Executive of the College Lecturers Association (CLA) - a supposedly autonomous section of the EIS - organised a last minute lobby of Esk Valley college on June 28. However, despite this call from an official body, EIS HQ did everything possible to sabotage the day and prevented any publicity going out.

After the summer holidays the national leadership cynically resorted to a ballot in Jewel and Esk Valley alone. The only possible response to an anti-union employer is to call on all members’ support, not leave it to the threatened members to take action alone. Not surprisingly the ballot for single-college industrial action failed.

At Falkirk, where redundancies had also been implemented, the CLA Executive organised a demonstration on October 8 against both the redundancies and union derecognition. Again union HQ did everything possible to sabotage this.

Even the local Labour MP, Dennis Canavan, was outraged enough to attend the demonstration and rally of 300 lecturers and primary school teachers in defiance of union HQ. A call went out from the rally for another demonstration in Glasgow on December 2.

In the meantime Star began petitioning for a national SGM, something that had never been achieved in the 146-year history of the EIS. Ten percent of all members were required to sign a petition within a one-month period. Once again EIS HQ moved into action - unconstitutionally declaring that no official body could give backing to the petition, after Dumfries, Edinburgh and Fife local association executives looked like giving their official support.

Despite this over 12% of members signed the petition. Sick as a parrot, the new leadership has had to concede a SGM on December 9.

However there are problems ahead as some on the left, led by the Socialist Workers Party, still want to focus activity on the higher official bodies of the EIS. Rank and File argues for building upon the independent action achieved on June 28 and October 8. The next important date to note is December 2.

Certainly this means pushing for official backing for action initiated from below, but it also means showing a willingness to act independently whenever official bodies attempt to sabotage action. Indeed we already have the lesson of the National Union of Teachers before us. If the emphasis is on pushing the national leadership, through conference, into leading action, it can easily use its bureaucratic power and media influence to marginalise us.

Therefore it is vital that the primary focus is school and college-based activity which undercuts the union leadership’s bureaucratic manoeuvring.

Allan Armstrong
Lothian Rank and File