A last chance to vote YES in the pay ballot

“I am keen to support the strike action, but have not returned my ballot paper yet, as I have two pre-school children and am struggling to pay their nursery fees at the moment. A days loss in pay would have a huge impact and I realise that by voting Yes I may end up striking more than once. I know that in the long run it is worth it, but is not an easy decision and if I can't pay their nursery fees I can't work. What is your advice”

This is one response that was returned to the email below that we have been circulating in Lewisham. It shows the serious debates that teachers are having over the ballot.

Please forward the email below to anyone you think may not yet have voted

Martin Powell-Davies

It has been a long and hard half-term! However, before you try and forget all about school for a week, make sure that you have returned your ballot paper in the NUT’s national action ballot. Ballot papers must be sent back by the end of half-term week at the latest.
• If you have voted already, many thanks.
• If you haven’t received, or can’t find, your ballot paper, you can request one from the NUT Action Hotline on 020 7380 6300 or via email on mailto:action%40nut.org.uk. The hotline closes on Tuesday October 28th.
• If you are still unsure about whether to vote YES or NO, please read on below:

Can you afford even more pay cuts?
Inflation has risen again to 5.2% but the Government has again ignored its promise to review our pay awards if inflation went over 3.25%. We have already lost £1,000s in below-inflation awards since 2004. If we don’t act, we’ll have another pay cut in 2009 – and in 2010.

We’re not being greedy!
With the recession biting, it’s not surprising that some colleagues are worried about how the public might react if we are taking action on pay. But our case is clear and we should be confident to present it to the public:
• The Governor of the Bank of England announced this week that “the combination of lower take-home pay and reduced lending poses the risk of a sharp slowdown”. So don’t just throw money at the banks – increase pay so that we can spend it to help the economy!
• Those guilty of real greed, risking everyone’s livelihoods, are being bailed out. Why should you, me and our families have to pay for the mess?
• How can Ministers argue now that ‘the money can’t be found to pay teachers’? Our pay claim would only costs £millions compared to the £billions that have been spent on the banking bailout.
• Even Ed Balls recognises that “there is a significant wastage rate among recently qualified teachers, and this must mean we are losing talent we cannot afford to lose”. Standing up for teachers is also about standing up for education too.
• Stepping back from action won’t help anyone else save their jobs or pay. But taking action can encourage others to stand up for themselves too. Civil servants have voted to take action. We can join with them – and other unions – to defend our livelihoods.

We’re serious about this campaign
Of course, the squeeze on incomes also means that teachers are thinking seriously about whether they can afford to lose pay by going on strike. But things will only get worse if we step back now. The Union is serious too. That’s why we are again organising a hardship fund to support colleagues who are the hardest hit. We’re not calling for strike action lightly. We are calling for action because we think we can win – the arguments we have are strong, Ministers are under pressure, a determined campaign of action can have an effect. PLEASE VOTE YES!

Bolton schools strike

Staff at two Bolton schools in Lancashire took strike action on 21st October over issues arising from the “academies” programme being implemented where they work. Academies mean some schools close while others are given to corporate sponsors and religious groups.
Proposals to close Withins school and Top O’th Brow primary, and replace Heyward school with an academy, met with a storm of protest earlier this year. Forced to retreat then, the authorities and sponsors are now trying again, with heavy involvement from the Church of England. Striking teachers together with supporters from Unison and more widely lobbied the council ‘cabinet’ meeting about the academy proposals.
At the lobby, Withins NUT rep PHIL ROBERTS explained:
They’ve launched what they consider to be a consultation. If you compare that with what happened in Sheffield or in Preston, there they actually had a ballot where everyone could vote, and they said they’d abide by the decision of that ballot. Here in Bolton there’s a ‘consultation’.
The people of the local area, Breightmet, have already said by 90% that they oppose the closure of Withins school. That’s pretty much the same figure as the union survey says oppose the academy within the school. Proponents of the academy are saying only 30% within the school are opposed. We can only assume they’re only talking about the NUT which organises about 30% of the staff. If that’s the case, then they’re ignoring Unison members who’ve been on strike with us, and the other teaching union (NASUWT) which has an official position against the academy. So to say only 30% are opposed is just being ‘economical with the truth’.
At the other school, Heyward, supporters of the academy are claiming a massive majority in favour. Which is strange, because no or very few people have seen the forms [for registering their opinion]! So there’s concerns about how that figure has been reached.
We’ve also got concerns about community cohesion. When the riots in Oldham and Burnley happened, everyone said it couldn’t happen here because Bolton isn’t as divided. But now, while in Oldham and Burnley the lessons are being learned, in Bolton they’re doing the opposite and creating Christian schools, and religious and ethnic schools.
We hope that this morning the councillors, who owe their elected position to the democratic process, will abide by the decision that people of Bolton want to see made – keep the schools open and throw out the proposal for the academy.
Today’s Cabinet decision has to be ratified by the whole council at a full council meeting. So if they make the wrong decision today, and vote for the academy proposals, we’re appealing to all the other councillors: search your conscience, vote the right way and not just according to the Party line.
We’ll be keeping up the pressure, and keep shouting until they start listening. As teachers we don’t like to shout, but sometimes you have to raise your voice to be heard.
· Campaign website http://savewithins.exofire.net
· OLDHAM demo against academies and school closures in Oldham: Sat 15th November, 10.45am, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Oldham town centre

Thanks to Hugh Caffrey for the report

KS3 SATS go - but what about KS1 & 2!

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/community/

Sad that I am, I was exploring the Teachernet website - they are asking for teacher’s views on Primary Curriculum. I have started a discussion on KS1 and KS2 SATs
Please take just a couple of minutes to add your comments. We often e-mail amongst ourselves but let’s make sure that the DCSF hear that anger as well!!

See the link above- you do have to register but it’s quick to do so.

Jane Nellist, Coventry.

Protest at job cuts

National Shop Stewards Network has called a protest against the job cuts caused by the greed of city financiers.

MEET AT Bank Tube
(Threadneedle Street entrance)
Monday 13th October 12 noon

Download a flier here

Linda Taaffe reports:

"We created quite a stir as we assembled noisily, with slogans of “jail – not bail” for the bankers; and “give us what the bankers got’. A group of school students, obviously on an educational visit stopped and listened and, echoing our chants, rather innocently asked, “Well, where has the money gone?” Exactly the sorts of questions that will be burning issues for thousands of young people as they face the prospects of mass unemployment in a few years. Hopefully they will remember this demo and draw the conclusion that they need to join a union and fight back".

Help decide what is debated at NUT Conference 2009

Many classroom teachers will be unclear as to how they can put forward resolutions for debate at the NUT’s Easter Annual Conference. The main way is by making sure their NUT Local Association holds a quorate meeting before November 15th where it can then vote to put forward up to six different motions.
There will be a number of different model motions in circulation from groups such as the STA and CDFU which teachers may want to consider. However, the national Classroom Teacher meeting agreed that we should put forward four motions that we think are of particular importance.
These are:
(1) WORKLOAD, PAY, CLASS SIZES – A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY. This builds on the motions agreed at the 2008 Conference calling on the Union to present a comprehensive claim containing all these three key objectives on pay and conditions – then prepares for national action to win the whole claim.
(2) POLITICAL FUND. This motion calls on the NUT to consider backing trade union or community candidates standing in elections. We could then back, for example, Anti-Academy candidates like those who won council seats in Barrow.
(3) DEMOCRACY IN SCHOOLS. We campaign against Academies and Trusts and call for schools to be run by democratic Local Authorities. This motion explains how we would see education and schools democratically run – involving parents, staff and the local community.
(4) NATIONAL SHOP STEWARDS NETWORK. This motion calls on the NUT to join with the RMT, PCS and others in sponsoring the NSSN, a network which brings together workplace reps to support each others’ disputes and campaigns.

The motions are attached – make sure that any you want to support a submitted in time for your local NUT meeting

DEMOCRACY%20IN%20SCHOOLS%20CT%20FINAL%202009.doc
NSSN%20CT%20FINAL%202009.doc
POLITICAL%20FUND%20CT%20FINAL%202009.doc
WORKLOAD%2C%20PAY%2C%20CLASS%20SIZES%20CT%20FINAL%202009.doc

ACTION CAN WIN - VOTE YES IN THE NUT BALLOT!

Teachers travelled from across the country to London for the Classroom Teacher National meeting on September 27th. The main discussion was on how to help win the NUT ballot on pay. The poster below takes up the main issues that were raised at the meeting. Please circulate it in your school:

CTpayposter.pdf

VOTE YES TO STOP THE PAY ROBBERY
£1000’s have already been stolen from you thanks to four years of below-inflation pay awards for teachers. Unless we act, our real pay will be cut again and again.
VOTE YES TO DEFEND TEACHERS
For too long, teachers have been expected to put up with everything that has been thrown at us. On April 24th we made a stand at last. We mustn’t back down now.
VOTE YES TO DEFEND EDUCATION
40% of new teachers leave within the first two years.
Applications for teacher training are falling.
Children need teachers. Teachers need decent pay.
VOTE YES TO TAKE OUR MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC
We’re not just fighting for ourselves. Financial crisis means that more public services will be cut, jobs lost, wages kept down - unless trade unions take action. Our vote can encourage others to act too.

ACTION CAN WIN! VOTE YES!
• April 24th was a real show of strength - we need to show that strength again!
• Some colleagues’ debts and bills are already so high that it can be tough to lose pay on strike days - but that’s exactly why we have to act. So vote YES - and collect for a hardship fund so that every NUT colleague can take part.
• The Government will say they can’t afford to pay us - but our pay claim only costs £ millions - compared to the £ billions being used to bail out the banks.
• Why should we pay for the mess? The money can be found - but only if we apply enough pressure. A determined campaign of strike action - linking up with other unions too - can make the Government think again.

Anti SATS campaign revitalised

The SATS fiasco has left the government vulnerable over testing. The Anti-SATs Alliance has gained a new lease of life. 

It may soon launch a petition against testing, and plans a conference in the Autumn. Further details will appear on the Classroom Teacher Blog.