03.05.2000

Performance-related pay

Test for NUT left

Members of the biggest teachers' union in Wales and England, the National Union of Teachers, return to work this week facing a ballot for a national one-day strike, the first in 31 years. The strike is in response to the government's attempt to impose performance-related pay on all teachers, linking it to pupils' test results for the first time since the Victorian era.

The introduction of PRP is something the Tories may have dreamt about introducing but were unable to implement. Now Labour is rushing to introduce the system, without any real opposition from the teaching union leaders. The NUT was actually formed during a period of stiff opposition to performance-related pay and it took over 30 years before the system was scrapped. The present leadership seems only too willing to ignore the union's history.

Under education secretary David Blunkett's PRP system only teachers at the top of the pay scale will be able to apply for the extra £2,000 on offer. To do so they will have to fill in a lengthy application form. They will also have to show commitment to the school, do courses in their own time, and show that their pupils have made "average or above-average progress" in national tests. Even if they manage all this, they will face excessive workloads for the rest of their teaching careers to maintain the money. On top of that the government is only funding the new system for two years.

Thousands of teachers have already said that they will not apply for the extra £2,000, believing it will weaken the cooperative way that teachers work. Teachers will be forced to compete against one another economically, undermining any idea of collective action. Like many other PRP systems, a few teachers will be awarded the £2,000, but the majority in real terms will get a pay cut.

The curriculum will become even more narrow, as teachers focus on cramming the most academic pupils to get high marks in tests. From next September all teachers will be required to set targets linked to their pupils' progress regardless of whether they are applying for the £2,000 PRP supplement.

The response from the leadership of all the teaching unions, facing the biggest attack on their members for over 100 years, is the usual fudge, as they stare defeat in the face. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers has even welcomed the new system while the second biggest union, the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers, is encouraging members to apply for the money, while threatening action over the additional workload.

At a stormy NUT conference over Easter delegates eventually managed to win a vote for a national strike ballot in the face of manoeuvring by the leadership to block the final vote. The previous year's conference had voted unanimously to have a one-day strike with speakers from the right talking about going to the barricades over the issue. One year later they raised the white flag. The motion passed called for the union to conduct a ballot for a one-day national strike, and for the executive and general secretary to campaign for a 'yes' vote.

However, even before the conference was over general secretary Doug McAvoy threw down the gauntlet to the left. He stated that he will refuse to abide by the conference decision and declared his intention to ignore the vote and campaign against it.

McAvoy knows that his actual position is very strong. Five years ago he defeated a left challenger for his post by a narrow margin of just over 1,000. Recently, after even more attacks on teachers by the government, he defeated a stronger left candidate, Christine Blower, by more than 17,000. During recent elections for the executive the left lost three places. McAvoy believes that, as in previous years, the left delegates do not represent the wishes of their members and he will be able to sideline them and appeal directly to the membership over the delegates' heads. He has grounds for confidence. Since the height of teacher militancy at the end of the 80s, when it made major gains, the left has both organisationally and ideologically gone backwards.

The biggest group on the left is the Socialist Teachers Alliance (STA) which originally had an orientation to the left in the Labour Party. However, it has declined numerically since the late 80s and as now largely limited to London and a few other large cities. The other left group is the Campaign for a Democratic Fighting Union (CDFU), which was formed by activists who in the past had political difference with the STA. It tends to be broader-based and less 'political' than the STA and in recent years has gained the support of many non-aligned left activists in the union. Characteristically both groups have focused on winning votes at conference, gaining executive places and controlling union branches. The importance of school-based activity gets lip-service, but in reality they have little orientation towards it.

As with many public sector unions, the biggest revolutionary group operating in the NUT is the Socialist Workers Party. SWP teachers' work has followed the twists and turns set by the national line. One year they operate outside the STA, the next year they join, then the following year they withdraw. One year they stand in elections, the next they back the STA, the following year they run their own candidates once more. In general the SWP teachers' group activities have had more to do with narrow party-building than contributing to the creation of a united militant opposition to the union's leadership. However, recent involvement in the London Socialist Alliance has begun to open up the SWP. Its comrades have been the most vocal in supporting the LSA in the NUT.

This development has created a problem for the Labourite STA leadership, which has been very reluctant to back the LSA. In London most left NUT branches have done so, except for those closely aligned to the STA leadership - unfortunately with the support of some prominent Socialist Party members. The new opportunities that the LSA poses, will come to fruition not only in the shape of greater unity for activists, but also in clarifying political differences.

One area where the left could achieve greater unity is precisely over PRP. As a response to the leaderships' lack of action, activists have formed School Teachers Opposed to Performance Pay (STOPP). This has relied on left NUT branches for the bulk of its support, but has also made contacts with teachers in other unions.

Recently, STOPP organised a 1,000-strong demonstration against PRP. It has successfully held a number of conferences and meetings and produced some excellent propaganda material. Unlike the official union leaders, it has started to rally teachers from all over the country, irrespective of their union, to oppose PRP. Yet, although growing quickly, it remains unsure of its political role.

With the executive agreeing to conduct a ballot and with McAvoy and friends campaigning for a 'no' to strike action, the left will have its work cut out. Teachers have been demoralised and confused, having had no support from their unions for over 15 years.

For more than a decade the left has controlled the conference. Nevertheless the leadership has been able to ignore any decisions they chose. The left has failed to go beyond the ritualistic speech-making and passing of militant-sounding motions in order to challenge the authority of the right wing. As a result many of the left seem out of touch with the real anger that is building up in schools. There is certainly a growing groundswell against PRP at grassroots level.

The left's task must be to mobilise the membership for independent action, if necessary outside the official union structure. Many of the victories that teachers have won in the past started off as unofficial campaigns and the struggle against PRP may well take the same form. And with three teachers' unions affiliated to the TUC, all competing for members, the left needs to set about breaking down barriers.

Scottish teachers in the Education Institute of Scotland recently forced their leadership to fight and defeated a similar PRP-type deal. The left should use the NUT ballot to rebuild its strength from the grassroots up. A failure to win the ballot and challenge the leadership will represent a heavy defeat, not only for teachers, but for the left tool