Home   |   The Socialist 27 January 2016   |   Join the Socialist Party

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Strike to win! Teachers need a national strategy for a national struggle

Teachers' union members marching, photo by Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge)

Jane Nellist, NUT national executive (personal capacity)

Teachers across the country are demonstrating a willingness to fight for, and more importantly win, on pay and conditions with a flurry of schools taking strike action over the last few months. But as a strategy, school-by-school is not going to resolve the problems for all teachers.

Nevertheless, we have seen some stunning victories. In my own area, NUT members at Blue Coat School in Coventry who have battled for months with an intransigent management, took strike action in September over the lack of consultation on school policies and won.

At Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre, NUT and NASUWT members took strike action against proposed redundancies. Nationally the NUT is consulting on a one-day strike of members in sixth form colleges.

At John Roan School in Greenwich, NUT members took two days of strike action against the imposition of unacceptable assessment, scrutiny and appraisal policies.

The NUT group in their statement said: "We hope others feel encouraged that we can take a stand and win. We are very proud of our strike and what we have achieved over the last six weeks. We now have policies that offer us greater protection against a culture that values 'statistics' more than the students we should be helping."

The strikes that have taken place have also won the support of the wider community with parents and students demonstrating their support.

But the problems facing teachers are national and emanate from a government that is trying to ripen the school system ready for privatisation.

Socialist Party members have been at the forefront of the Local Associations for National Action Campaign (Lanac) in NUT. Lanac has consistently argued for a serious plan of escalating national action and teachers will need to be prepared to take that type of action to defeat this government.

National action with a proper strategy of escalation, just like that being employed in the school-by-school strategy, uniting all teachers in defence of decent pay and conditions, is the only solution.

We need a national contract that protects teachers from a life of drudgery. We need to use the examples of these successful strikes to build the confidence of all teachers to fight back together. If you fight back you can win!

In this issue

Socialist Party news and analysis

Housing: smash the Tory wrecking bill

Davos summit: a broken capitalist system

Google pays pittance for avoiding £2bn tax

Red doors and wristbands scandal

Steelworkers may face benefit cut-off for not seeking bar jobs

Oscars snub black artists: fight racism and austerity in the arts

Labour councillor smears TUSC policy as 'BNP'

Them & Us

Top tweets: #TraditionallySubmissive

Teachers under attack

Teaching: a perfect storm is brewing

Teachers need national strategy for a national struggle

A day in the life of a teacher and mother

International socialist news and analysis

New wave of protests in Tunisia

India: student death exposes caste oppression

What we think

Tories 'Prevent' civil liberties

Council cuts and the fight in Labour

Labour councillor suspended for fighting cuts

Dave Nellist's byelection appeal to Jeremy Corbyn: 'let's discuss how to fight the cuts'

Labour election post-mortem: nothing to report!

The dark arts of Labour's right

Councillors must fight to defend our services

'People's budgets' and local democracy

Lewisham: no backsliding in council cuts fight!

Workplace news and analysis

"I have left work many times in tears" - a council worker

Trade union bill will stretch resources and limit action

Birmingham teachers strike to resist academy attack

24-hour tube strike suspended

Care services under threat in Haringey

Workplace news in brief

Readers' comment

The end for deep coal mining jobs in Britain

Obituary: Dean Meehan 1962-2016

Letters

Socialist Party reports and campaigns

Protesting against closure of Huddersfield A&E

Coventry children's services closure protest

New Socialist Party branch fights against St Austell austerity

Socialist Party discusses the fight for socialism

Socialist Students bake-off

Home   |   The Socialist 27 January 2016   |   Join the Socialist Party

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Related links:

Teachers:

Teachers demand fighting union strategy

Teachers: On the front line, in their own words

Determined strikers at Leaways school

Welsh schools close for safety after union pressure

East London teachers strike in support of victimised union rep

Strike:

Norwich City Council workers vote for strike action over broken promises on pay and conditions

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Thurrock refuse workers strike escalates

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School:

Beal school strikers suspend action after possible victory

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Academy schools have become business ventures

NUT:

Martin Powell-Davies for NEU DGS: "We need to use our collective strength"

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Schools:

Elect a socialist leadership to fight for national action and a united campaign

Greenwich:

South London council workers vote to strike

Parents:

Bosses profit out of 'starvation' food parcels

Colleges:

Further education workers win pay rise in Wales

Coventry:

Coventry Socialist Party: After the elections- Labour in turmoil - How can we build a new mass workers' party?

NASUWT:

Academy strike - standing up to 'bullying' management forces climbdown