Exec News134

							                                       EXECUTIVE NEWS
                                       17 May 2007




Salaries Campaign                                    relationship between the Union and
        The General Secretary drew attention to      Government which were consequent on the
settlements for teachers’ pay over 30 years,         decision of the NUT not to sign the Workforce
which followed a pattern of “boom and bust”.         Agreement in 2004. The NUT wished to move
Below inflation pay awards were followed by          forward and to work jointly with the other
“catch-ups” to restore the level of teachers’        teachers’ organisations to protect the pay and
pay. The present Government’s pay policy             conditions of teachers. The TUC was being
sought to depress public sector pay, including       helpful.
that of teachers, as a means of controlling
inflation. The NUT’s campaign calling on the         Elections
Government to issue a remit to the School                    The General Secretary reported on the
Teachers’ Review Body for an inflation related       hustings organised by the NUT in Wales in the
review of teachers’ pay was a question of            Assembly elections. Other than Plaid Cymru,
honour for the Government.           The NUT         all the political parties were there to present
believed in fair treatment for teachers.             their case for education in Wales. Jane
        The strategy for the campaign agreed         Davidson was present and was challenged by
by the Executive stressed the need for               the NUT over her assertion that the workforce
maximum unity amongst the teachers’                  agreement had been introduced in Wales
organisations; and a robust response from the        because of the Union’s support for teachers’
NUT if no remit was given to the STRB. There         pay and conditions that operated equally in
would be further communications with                 England and Wales. The NUT’s criticism had
members in order to keep the issues in focus         stung the Minister.
and galvanise support for the campaign.                      The General Secretary reported on the
        It was agreed to call a briefing for         views of candidates for the Deputy Prime
division secretaries this term.                      Minister position. Harriet Harman expressed
                                                     support for “a good local school for every
Annual Conference                                    child”, Peter Hain opposed the 11+, Hilary
        The General Secretary referred to the        Benn’s views on education had been
positive press coverage of the NUT Annual            influenced by his parents and by his
Conference. Importantly, specific coverage           attendance at Holland Park School, Alan
had been given to the NUT’s two charters: on         Johnson said that the Labour Party would be
promoting the achievement of Black Caribbean         destroyed if it changed its views on grammar
Boys and on the commercialisation of                 schools and academies. John Cruddas told
childhood. Coverage had also been given to           Alan Johnson that Barking and Dagenham had
the 14-19 debate at Conference.                      been denied “Building Schools for the Future”
                                                     monies because they refused to have an
Judicial Review                                      academy.       The Secretary of State had
       The General Secretary reported that the       expressed “surprise” and said he wanted to
Government continued with its exclusion of the       know the issues involved.
NUT from discussions on a range of matters
outside the purview of workforce reform.             Academies
These included the 14-19 consultation on the                Attention was drawn in the Executive to
new diplomas, proposals for the pay of part          a Committee of Enquiry into Academy Schools
time and supply teachers, and the Aiming High        being held in June by MPs in conjunction with
Strategy. The NUT would pursue its legal             the Anti Academies Alliance (AAA). The
challenge to ensure that the Government              Enquiry wanted to hear from all involved in
always acted under the authority of Parliament.      education to help demonstrate the growing
       The NUT had been attempting to                concerns about Academies and the threat to
resolve and overcome difficulties in the             comprehensive education.
         The Executive agreed that it was         General Secretary reported that Union advice
important to maintain, if not increase, the       on Trust Schools for use in local
profile of the national campaign. The NUT         circumstances was in the final stages of
would continue to be a strong supporter of the    preparation.
national campaign, through the Anti
Academies Alliance, and of local campaigns.       Workload ballot
All local associations were encouraged to               It was reported that the first ballot on
affiliate to AAA and/or to make donations so      workload had just been held in Havering. More
that it could continue its valuable work. The     requests from schools were expected.
profile of AAA had been recognised with a link
on the BBC website!                               Havant College, Hampshire
                                                          A report was given of action being
Abuse of use of Teaching Assistants               taken by members at Havant 6th Form College.
        The General Secretary reported that he    25 per cent of members at the college were
had received a response from the Secretary of     facing cuts in pay, some as much as £7,000.
State to concerns the Union had raised about      The threats related to the 2006 pay settlement,
the use of teaching assistants, as reported by    progression on PSP and the withholding of pay
delegates at the NASUWT Conference. The           and conditions, and redundancy threats
reports from that conference had been widely      resulting     from      reorganisation     and
reported in the press, including teaching         amalgamations. Further action was planned
assistants being used to take lessons and         on 19 June. The NUT would continue to
teach A level English for a whole term and a      support national pay and conditions in this
GCSE maths group being in charge of an            sector.
“untrained assistant”. The response from Alan
Johnson stated that allegations of abuse would    Teacher Mental Health
be investigated by the TDA. The NUT would                The Executive agreed urgent proposals
be making a case to the TDA for investigation.    for the establishment of a working party
                                                  consistent with the decision of Conference,
Working with the NUT                              with a view to the first meeting being held
       The General Secretary reported on a        before the end of this term.
group of MPs who wanted to work with the
NUT. They were not teachers, but had a            Union Elections 2008-2010
passionate commitment to education, to                   The timetables for elections for National
meeting the needs and aspirations of children,    Officers and Executive members were
and were wholly opposed to the marketisation      approved. The first deadline is Monday, 1
of education.                                     October 2007 for the receipt of nominations for
                                                  the National Officers and Examiners of
Ethiopia                                          Accounts.
        The General Secretary reported that the
NUT had protested to Teachers’ TV over the        Consultation with the Union
profile being given to the Ethiopian Prime               The Executive approved urgent
Minister, Meles Zenawi on the issue of            responses to a number of consultations with
transforming education in Ethiopia, featured on   the NUT, including:
the front page of their guide. This was the             DfES guidance on exclusions
same government that had done its best to               DfES guidance on review of
destroy the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association;              attendance targets
had caused the exile of the General Secretary           DfES consultation on Early Years
of the ETA; the imprisonment of its President;            Foundation Stage learning and
and the murder of its Deputy General                      development exemptions
Secretary.                                              GTC(E)       consultation on inter-
                                                          professional work with children
Trust Schools                                           DfES guidance on school uniform
       The Executive raised a number of                   related policies
concerns related to Trust Schools, including             The Executive also agreed the NUT’s
the consequences for collective bargaining,       submission to the House of Commons Inquiry
trade union facilities time and activity. These   into Testing and Assessment.
issues would be addressed by the NUT. The
y
into Testing and Assessment.