300,000 teachers in the National Education Union (NEU) in England went on strike again on 5 and 7 July as part of the fight for fully-funded inflation-proof pay rises. Once again lively picket lines, demonstrations and rallies took place.
One striker in Plymouth told Ryan Aldred: “It feels like this is gearing up to some big action in the autumn. With support staff balloting and even headteachers preparing to come out, it feels like this is only going to get bigger!”
At a strike ‘picnic’ in Keswick, Cumbria, filled with home-made banners, one teacher told Martin Powell-Davies: “It’s been hard these last strike days, but we can’t give in now.”
Simon Robinson, Leicester NEU assistant branch secretary and Socialist Party member, spoke at the Leicester rally:
“We have heard that the GMB members in Blaby on the bins have escalated their action to two solid weeks of strike. We have heard from Unison members at Ashfield Academy about their determined strike, who have also voted for escalation. I think that we in the NEU should do the same.
“We need to start to work together with other unions in dispute. Why don’t we demand that the TUC coordinate all of us to be out. Let’s all unite together to come out in the autumn!”
Speaking to the Socialist, Simon added: “We have been in dispute since January and the Tories are under pressure, but although we’ve forced them to the negotiating table, our demands have not been met by the government. We have had big vibrant picket lines and we’ve recruited thousands of new members to our union in Leicester and Leicestershire alone, and tens of thousands around the country.
“We have more and more young teachers and support staff getting involved in the union. That’s because we are a union in dispute. But I think the mood for next term is to escalate. Sister education unions are balloting for strike action in the new term, and if they are successful in their ballots then we will be standing side by side on the picket lines.”
Make 3 October a massive day of action
At the rally in Parliament Square following the march of 10,000 teachers and supporters through central London, it was announced from the platform that the NEU will be calling a mid-week demonstration on Tuesday 3 October at the Tory party conference in Manchester.
If the NEU is successful in its current reballot, this day could become a huge strike day. Other teaching and heads unions are also balloting. Daniel Kebede, who takes over as NEU general secretary in September, called from the platform for an “education general strike”.
This is an opportunity to call on all education unions currently balloting – and all unions with live ballots, including the NHS and rail unions – to come together to make it a historic day of coordinated strike action, and a massive mid-week demonstration demanding inflation-proof pay rises and against the Tory anti-trade union laws.
6.5% is not enough
During the strikes, current joint general secretary Mary Bousted told the press that if the government paid and funded the independent review body’s recommendation of 6.5% for 2023, the strikes would “stop”. This has not been agreed by the union executive nor members consulted. It falls far short of the inflation-proof rise teachers are demanding, and doesn’t deal with the rise demanded for 2022-23 at all.
If the Tories were to make that offer, Socialist Party members would argue for rejection. The strikes have put the Tories under pressure – now is not the time to step back and lose our opportunity to win far more.
Trades councils can help local coordination
Throughout the NEU strikes, myself and Kevin Parslow have been attending the Leytonstone School picket line. During our most recent visit, Kevin, who is secretary of Waltham Forest Trades Council, coordinated with Len Hockey, the branch secretary of Unite in Barts Health Trust, who works in Whipps Cross hospital near to the school, to come down to the picket line to give solidarity.
Alex, the BMA junior doctors’ rep at Whipps also visited the picket. The strikers talked about coordinating an NEU delegation to go to the junior doctors’ picket line. This would be a really good show of solidarity between the two unions and will hopefully lead to further links being made in the future – an example of how trades councils can help with local coordination.
Lily Douglas, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
