NUT Ballot Result - Post your views!
NUT ballot won – but NUT Executive decides it was too narrow a margin to call action
Despite some teachers’ doubts - reflecting both the economic recession and the lack of a clear strategy for winning the dispute – the result of the NUT’s pay ballot has shown that a majority of NUT members still voted in favour of discontinuous strike action.
The result was, however, only a narrow victory – 52% YES to 48% NO. (Turnout 30%). There were apparently some significant regional variations. It is reported, for example, that there was a much higher YES vote in London.
The NUT National Executive meeting on November 5th felt that the result was too divided to call action. There was a proposal to call a one-day strike in late November but this only received three votes. Most of the Executive argued that members would not support the action in sufficient numbers.
The outcome will obviously be a disappointment to many active NUT members, colleagues in the PCS and others looking to develop action, and an encouragement to Ministers and all those who want to say that trade unionists should be ‘responsible’ in times of economic crisis.
Classroom Teacher’s arguments that the Union should have kept up the momentum after April 24 by calling a further ballot before the end of term, linking up with UNISON and others, as well as arguing that the dispute should be widened to include workload and class size issues, need to be taken on board.
The Union needs to learn lessons from what has happened – and make sure that it is only a temporary setback. What do Classroom Teacher contributors think were the key factors behind the result? What do you think the Executive should have done – and what should be done now? Send in your comments to Classroom Teacher.
Martin Powell-Davies for Classroom Teacher
Your comments:
I notice that the government is keen for trade unionists to be "responsible" because of the crisis. They gave no such lectures to the bankers whose greed led to them being bailed out with billions of public money. They are not being urged to exercise "discipline". I can understand some members have been reluctant to strike because of the economic situation and the fact parents may face the loss of their jobs and not support us. I believe their concern is being cynically exploited by those who want to talk the government to death when industrial action is the only thing that makes them sit up and take notice.
Derek McMillan, West Sussex NUT
The NUT News says that we will ‘continue to work together with other unions but what must the PCS leadership and their members think of the NUT! They say we will continue to take the pay campaign to government but how? What do I say to my young members who can't afford to live in London but can't find jobs back in their own more rural parts of the country .........sign another petition, put your coffee cup (if you've time for a break) on an NUT fair pay coaster, email the MP who didn't stick up for you yet again. The NUT is becoming a union that spends thousands on publicising Words, Words, Words when its history and current events show that only Action, Action, Action can win anything.
Louise Cuffaro, Newham NUT
This is terrible news. Teachers are angry at year on year pay cuts, bullying management, privatisation and attacks on both us as workers and the education service we provide. A union should be the collective strength of its membership. We have voted for strike action. That is the official decision of the union membership. The executive - or a majority of them -are clearly out of touch, unrepresentative and ignoring union democracy.
Jason Travis, Bolton NUT
Not suprised by the Executive decision, but encouraged by the fact that a majority of those voting wanted industrial action, which means we are still in business! Undoubtedly, the economic situation influenced a lot of teachers. It has been called the middle class recession and true to form, a lot of middle class teachers decided to put their heads down and run for cover.
Roger Mackay, Ipswich NUT
I think it was clear from the divisional secretaries briefing that the right wing were preparing to climb down irrespective of the result. I think that the decision of Unison to go to ACAS was probably the decisive factor together with fear of loss of members who did not support the strike. I get the impression that the union is obsessed with the NASUWT's growth and is desperate to do nothing that might be "unpopular" and therefore lose members.
We need to be aware of the nature of the period we are entering and what impact that will have on our members. We are at the start of a process that will lead to the radicalisation of the unions but it will not be an even process. Some members will seek sanctuary in a passive approach and for some it will mean joining other unions. However we should base ourselves on the newer layer of activists who are emerging as a result of the pay campaign and the general situation in education and society as a whole. Hull in many ways reflects this process. We had a very successful reps council that attracted 16 reps. This might not seem much to some divisions but this is by far the biggest internal NUT meeting we have had for a decade and there is a feeling that the division is turning itself round.
I think that we should look to carry on the propaganda campaign on pay but link it to workload action. In Hull, I think we would have got a better response on workload than pay.
Mike Whale, Hull NUT
Despite some teachers’ doubts - reflecting both the economic recession and the lack of a clear strategy for winning the dispute – the result of the NUT’s pay ballot has shown that a majority of NUT members still voted in favour of discontinuous strike action.
The result was, however, only a narrow victory – 52% YES to 48% NO. (Turnout 30%). There were apparently some significant regional variations. It is reported, for example, that there was a much higher YES vote in London.
The NUT National Executive meeting on November 5th felt that the result was too divided to call action. There was a proposal to call a one-day strike in late November but this only received three votes. Most of the Executive argued that members would not support the action in sufficient numbers.
The outcome will obviously be a disappointment to many active NUT members, colleagues in the PCS and others looking to develop action, and an encouragement to Ministers and all those who want to say that trade unionists should be ‘responsible’ in times of economic crisis.
Classroom Teacher’s arguments that the Union should have kept up the momentum after April 24 by calling a further ballot before the end of term, linking up with UNISON and others, as well as arguing that the dispute should be widened to include workload and class size issues, need to be taken on board.
The Union needs to learn lessons from what has happened – and make sure that it is only a temporary setback. What do Classroom Teacher contributors think were the key factors behind the result? What do you think the Executive should have done – and what should be done now? Send in your comments to Classroom Teacher.
Martin Powell-Davies for Classroom Teacher
Your comments:
I notice that the government is keen for trade unionists to be "responsible" because of the crisis. They gave no such lectures to the bankers whose greed led to them being bailed out with billions of public money. They are not being urged to exercise "discipline". I can understand some members have been reluctant to strike because of the economic situation and the fact parents may face the loss of their jobs and not support us. I believe their concern is being cynically exploited by those who want to talk the government to death when industrial action is the only thing that makes them sit up and take notice.
Derek McMillan, West Sussex NUT
The NUT News says that we will ‘continue to work together with other unions but what must the PCS leadership and their members think of the NUT! They say we will continue to take the pay campaign to government but how? What do I say to my young members who can't afford to live in London but can't find jobs back in their own more rural parts of the country .........sign another petition, put your coffee cup (if you've time for a break) on an NUT fair pay coaster, email the MP who didn't stick up for you yet again. The NUT is becoming a union that spends thousands on publicising Words, Words, Words when its history and current events show that only Action, Action, Action can win anything.
Louise Cuffaro, Newham NUT
This is terrible news. Teachers are angry at year on year pay cuts, bullying management, privatisation and attacks on both us as workers and the education service we provide. A union should be the collective strength of its membership. We have voted for strike action. That is the official decision of the union membership. The executive - or a majority of them -are clearly out of touch, unrepresentative and ignoring union democracy.
Jason Travis, Bolton NUT
Not suprised by the Executive decision, but encouraged by the fact that a majority of those voting wanted industrial action, which means we are still in business! Undoubtedly, the economic situation influenced a lot of teachers. It has been called the middle class recession and true to form, a lot of middle class teachers decided to put their heads down and run for cover.
Roger Mackay, Ipswich NUT
I think it was clear from the divisional secretaries briefing that the right wing were preparing to climb down irrespective of the result. I think that the decision of Unison to go to ACAS was probably the decisive factor together with fear of loss of members who did not support the strike. I get the impression that the union is obsessed with the NASUWT's growth and is desperate to do nothing that might be "unpopular" and therefore lose members.
We need to be aware of the nature of the period we are entering and what impact that will have on our members. We are at the start of a process that will lead to the radicalisation of the unions but it will not be an even process. Some members will seek sanctuary in a passive approach and for some it will mean joining other unions. However we should base ourselves on the newer layer of activists who are emerging as a result of the pay campaign and the general situation in education and society as a whole. Hull in many ways reflects this process. We had a very successful reps council that attracted 16 reps. This might not seem much to some divisions but this is by far the biggest internal NUT meeting we have had for a decade and there is a feeling that the division is turning itself round.
I think that we should look to carry on the propaganda campaign on pay but link it to workload action. In Hull, I think we would have got a better response on workload than pay.
Mike Whale, Hull NUT
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