NUT conference: Building A Fighting Leadership

    NUT conference

    Building A Fighting Leadership

    THE KEY question at the National Union of Teachers (NUT)
    conference was: "Can we elect a leadership that will fight against
    government attacks on teachers?"

    Steve Score, in Harrogate

    Teachers expressed their anger on issues such as government
    plans to replace their jobs with lower-paid teaching assistants, inadequate
    education funding, plans to force them to work five years longer to get a full
    pension and attacks on pay.

    Martin Powell-DaviesThe NUT, alone of the education unions, has refused to sign
    up to an agreement which they see as ‘teaching on the cheap’. 

    Martin Powell-Davies

    As Martin
    Powell-Davies, Socialist Party member and a candidate for the general secretary
    election put it: 

    "The government wants poorly paid teaching assistants to
    do our jobs but not on our pay."

    A motion was agreed which noted the failure of the
    leadership to act on previous conference policy and called for opposition to
    the agreement to be turned into action, including the possibility of strike
    action.

    The conference also reaffirmed its policy of opposing SATs
    as they are educationally harmful to pupils. But every year policy to take
    action to fight back against the government is agreed at the conference and
    then ignored by the leadership. 86% voted in a recent ballot to boycott SATs
    tests, yet it was not acted on because the turnout was not considered good
    enough by the NUT executive.

    Determined, united action

    As Bhasker Badresha from Redbridge in east London put it:
    "Blair is not going to soil his trousers if he hears we are issuing a
    circular. We need determined, united action like the London Allowances strike.
    The conference policies are carried with passion but not implemented with
    passion."

    The desire for a fighting leadership was evident when guest
    speaker Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the civil service union PCS, was
    given a standing ovation. The PCS are currently taking action over pay and were
    threatened with the loss of thousands of jobs in Gordon Brown’s recent budget
    statement. He said: "Sacking workers on TV is as bad as sacking them by
    text. This cannot go unchallenged."

    One hour of the conference was put aside for election
    hustings to hear the candidates in the NUT general secretary election. Martin
    Powell-Davies explained his platform for "a leadership that matches
    members’ desire to fight back against government attacks." He was received
    favourably by many delegates especially because of the fact that, unlike the
    other candidates, he is a classroom teacher and he will only take a teacher’s
    wage if elected.

    All delegates were questioned, giving Martin the chance to
    explain his programme for change. The difference between him and the others
    became clear. He would go to the classrooms to explain the need to fight. One
    young delegate said that Martin was the only one with "get up and
    go".

    50 delegates attended an ‘Elect Martin’ campaign fringe
    meeting and pledged to build support in their local areas.

    If Martin succeeds in this election it will the beginning
    of a transformation in the union which will finally mean a real fight to defend
    its members.

    www.electmartin.org.uk