25.05.1995

NUT stitch-up

OVER THE next few weeks members of the National Union of Teachers are being balloted for a one-day strike over class sizes.

At the NUT’s Easter conference delegates voted against the advice of the leadership to conduct this ballot. The leadership lost every single debate and vote. It consistently argued against any action, saying again and again that parents and teachers would not support it.

It is desperate to keep in line with Blair’s ‘new Labour’ as it moves to the right. Until recently the NUT and Labour Party had similar education policies. Now Blunkett is in-distinguishable from a Tory education secretary.

Doug McAvoy, the union’s general secretary, launched a major attack on the left in the union. His end-of-conference address consisted largely of an attack on the democracy of conference. He personally knew what ‘real teachers’ were thinking better than the elected delegates.

Since then he has written to every single member, claiming that leftwing extremists want to take over the union. This has been backed up with regular mailings into schools urging teachers to oppose the strike. Members have received a glossy brochure with their ballot papers explaining why they should not support the action. All the literature that McAvoy has sent out to undermine conference decisions has been paid for by the union. His actions have been fully supported by the rightwing majority on the executive.

McAvoy and his supporters have argued that the strike would isolate the teachers from parents. Yet the NUT leadership refused to support one of the biggest demonstrations of recent years, organised by the parents’ and governors’ pressure group, Fight Against Cuts in Education. The leadership portrayed Face as a front for “political extremists” and only finally agreed to back it when delegates forced them to do so. However, parents and governors in Face have expressed support for teachers taking strike action.

Across the country teachers, parents and governors are realising that action is the only way to fight back against the crisis created by Tory underfunding. However a one-day national strike, important though it should be in providing a focus for the many current local campaigns, is unlikely by itself to seriously shake the government. It will need to be followed up with further militant actions.

Whatever the result of the ballot on class sizes, the leadership will continue its attack on union democracy, as it tries to bind and gag activists, so that they do not upset Tony Blair.

Tony Coughlin