Sheila Caffrey, NEU Exec member, personal capacity
May’s National Executive meeting of the National Education Union (NEU) discussed the supreme court’s judgement on women and the attack on trans and non-binary rights.
There is a section within the NEU leadership that buys into the government’s rhetoric, seeing the ruling as a way to move forward with women’s rights. I spoke strongly against this idea, along with many others on the Exec, and it was defeated.
Socialist Party members put in our own amendment to the draft NEU statement, with further demands: for a union-organised demo against austerity and the attacks on equality; as well as to put pressure on independent MPs to put forward these policies in parliament on behalf of the NEU.
Unfortunately, the NEU Left (the grouping that leads the union currently) and SWP (Socialist Workers Party – which is part of the NEU Left) spoke against this. They argued that smaller local demos were the way to win.
They also argued against our point that the union should make clear it would defend members who challenged policies in schools, as we would be ‘encouraging members to get fired’. In fact, it would empower members to stand up to bosses collectively.
Unite the working class
This shows a lack of understanding of the role that unions should play in uniting the working class.
Unions could bring hundreds of thousands of members out on to the streets to demand the Labour government provides what we need – such as well-funded health and public services; decent housing for all, with immediate access for those fleeing violence; and well-paid jobs – challenging discrimination and division. Instead of fighting to unite the working class, some groupings seem to prefer that the unions just stump up the cash for the occasional demo that doesn’t root these campaigns in our workplaces, communities and union branches.
