TUC Congress: Thursday

The last day of Congress did not get off to a prompt start, as the General Council was in extended wrangling to issue a statement on the situation in Palestine that could command the broad agreement of affiliates. As a result we were kept waiting 45 minutes to start, although we were entertained by an extended performance from That’s All Folk ! a Rochdale based group of musicians from 12-18, as part of the Music for Youth programme, which is sponsored by the NUT.

Eventually (at 10.20 !) the session kicked off with a sororal greeting from Cath Speight, chair of the Labour Party NEC and an official of Unite. Cath admitted that it had been a “challenging year” for Labour, but she was proud of the role that many trade unionists had played in the European and local election campaigns. She had been devastated to lose so many hard working local councilors, “many of whom are in this room”

She also praised the work trade unionists had done in the anti-fascist mobilizations against the BNP. She noted the sad death of Jack Jones, and reminded us that he had fought as a young man in the Spanish Civil War against Franco’s fascists. She paid tribute to Jack as a “passionate oppnonet of inequality, hatred and bigotry” and also remembered those trade unionists who had fought Moseley’s fasicists in this country.

Cath raised some of the achievements for working people under this government- particularly
the strengthening of Minimum Wage enforcement, the extension of the right to statutory holiday pay and of maternity and paternity rights. She told us that none of that would have been possible had it not been for the work trade unionists had done within the Labour Party. She quoted the Conservative Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, who had stated his belief that “’The State can’t guarantee fairness, and it shouldn’t even try’" Cath reminded us "well we know different”

The session went on to debate motions on democratic renewal, which included the re-affirmation of the independence of civil sevants, and also called for the investigation of electoral reform and Proportional Representation. There was some disagreement with the latter part, although we were reminded that the TUC had first committed to a system where parties should be able to elect representatives “proportionate to their votes” back in 1911 !

Congress agreed to support the principles of the People’s Charter, although with some reservations. General Secretary Brendan Barber stated that we should remember that we make our own policy, not just signing up to other people’s- and there would be elements in the People’s Charter that some within the breadth of the TUC may disagree with. However, in principle, Congress voted to support.

Martin Reed moved the NUT motion calling for an Education Charter along the same lines of the People’s Charter. This element was generally supported, although there was concern that the final paragraph which asserted that we would campaign in defence of jobs and services in the run up to the General Election was interpreted by some (wrongly) as being a veiled attempt to provoke politically motivated industrial action (it wasn’t !)

The major unions seemed to feel that the risk of it being interpreted in that manner was too great a risk, and opposed it, and the motion was not carried. We did, however, secure the support of a number of significant unions, including PCS, NUJ, Prison Officers Association, Fire Brigades Union and the Communication Workers Union, as well as UCU who seconded the motion.

The International debate focused on the trade union response to the situation in Palestine, including condemnation of the bombings by Israeli forces in Gaza, and the statement of support for this by Histadrut - the Israeli trade union federation, with whom we have fraternal links. It also called for a targeted boycott of goods from settlements in the occupied territories. The Congress endorsed a wide ranging statement from the General Council, and also passed the motion from the Fire Brigades Union.

There were a number of emergency motions put at the end of congress, on the Royal Mail dispute, Vestas and green jobs, the situation in Sri Lanka, and the National Grid (see the website National Greed for more information.)

Conference closed with votes of thanks, including presentations of awards to retiring members of the General Council, including the NUJ’s Anita Halpin. Dave Prentis of Unison thanked the President, Sheila Bearcroft and presented her with her Gold Badge of Congress, and a special bonus- a rugby ball signed by the whole of the Welsh rugby team.

Overall an interesting and productive Congress. There is a least one certainty, and that is that next time TUC Congress meets it will be after the General Election. Will the agenda and, indeed the whole political situation for the trade union movement be very different in a year’s time ?

TUC Congress: Wednesday

The morning commenced with the debate on the Economy and Manufacturing. The motion from the TUC Women's Conference focused on the effects on women's employment and the recession, while an amendment from shop workers union USDAW reaffirmed the TUC's commitment to ending child poverty.

The motion from the TUC Black Workers' Conference focused on the issue of economic recovery, highlighting the disproportionately hard effect the recession has had on black and minority ethnic workers. The delegate from GMB observed that the government was talking about making "wise cuts." He suggested that the real wise move would be:

Windfall tax on the massive profits of the energy companies
Increase the minimum wage and council house building
Services- maintained and kept in the public sector
Employees rights and egalitarianism

Unite and the Bakers' Union moved a motion on manufacturing. Len McCluskey of Unite pointed out that Lord Mandelson had said that the UK should be doing "'less financial engineering and more real engineering.' This motion encourages him to put his money where his mouth is !" The motion also called for a more flexible approach to using social clauses in public purchasing contracts, to take into account social and employment outcomes of awarding particular public contracts. An amendment from the Communication Workers' Union strengthened the motion by highlighting the need to develop jobs in the emerging green economy.

The motion on Cleaner Coal technology from the National Union of Mineworkers pointed out that 2/3 of the coal used in Britain was now imported, and recognised the need to develop technology such as carbon capture to make coal burning far less polluting.

The Environment Secretary Ed Milliband was a guest speaker. He paid warm tribute to Sheila Bearcroft's presidency, and her progress from a textile worker at 15 through to President of the TUC. He also paid a tribute to the Union Environmental Representatives at workplaces up and down the country for the work they do. He pledged that the UK government will be working towards a "just transition" at the Copenhagen summit.

Ed sought to link the environmental and the economic situations. "Yesterday, Gordon Brown talked about how we tackle the economic crisis. I want to talk about how we tackle the environmental crisis... there is a common cause- markets without regulation."

He encouraged us to decide "what sort of society we believe in, then to build it" and emphasised the need to be enthusiastic about the low carbon revolution. He spoke of the Sharp factory he recently visited in Wrexham, which used to make video recorders and now makes solar panels.

Ed acknowledged that coal is a dilemma. It is the cheapest and most flexible fuel; it is also the most polluting. There is a solution, and that lies in carbon capture. There are 4 carbon capture demonstration projects being funded by the government. He asked why it had taken three decades of having the technology: because it cannot simply be left to the market. He also argued that nuclear power had to be part of the solution (I don't agree, it has to be pointed out !) saying "'Nuclear Power: No Thanks' today means 'Climate Change: No Doubt' tomorrow."

He mentioned the Vestas dispute (prompting huge applause to the RMT-organised Vestas workers in the public area, and the unveiling of an enormous banner) but didn't take the opportunity to provide a solution for this hugely symbolic dispute. He laid some blame at the door of Tory planning authorities who consistently oppose applications for wind turbines, and attacked David Cameron's double standards on the issue, saying "it's not cool to go to the Arctic Circle [on a climate change fact finding mission] and then sit in the European Parliament alongside climate change deniers" and warned against the 'RyanAir' model of public services being rolled out by Tory controlled Barnet Council.

There was a short question and answer session- several questions asked that related to Vestas, calling for nationalisation, which he "regrettably" ruled out (pity that no suggestion of a co-operative model with government support is being cconsidered, in my humble opinion) Entertaining moment from a Unite questioner, who had known his Marxist historian father- starting his question to the Secretary of State with the observation: "You're Ralph's boy, aren't you..."

During the lunch break I went to the joint teachers' union fringe meeting on One Goal: Unions, Football and Education for All, where NUT, NASUWT, ATL and the Scottish EIS all spoke alongside an organiser for the Global Campaign for Education. This will be one of the regular campaigns to raise awareness of the campaign to ensure universal primary education for all around the world (remember the Send my Friend to School campaigns ?) only this time will focus on the 2010 World Cup, and has enlisted many top footballers as ambassadors for the project. Please visit the Global Campaign For Education's site to see more and to sign up as a supporter. You can also order resource packs for your school.

The afternoon's debates welcomed the UK finally adopting the Temporary Agency Workers Directive, but warned that already employer's organisations are lobbying hard for get-outs and exemptions. They issued a press release today directly attacking the TUC and calling for the introduction of the new protections to be postponed until 2011. Unite warned that there are already tactic being planned by employers to circumvent the protections- especially as they only take effect after 13 weeks.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers raised how this will help supply teachers (maybe, but the 13 weeks requirement will scupper most of them, except on longer placements) and also the high charges a school has to pay an agency if they "buy" a supply teacher for a full time position. The UCU wondered why we had waited 7 years for the directive to be introduced, and why the UK government had lobbied in Europe for the provisions to be watered down.

The debate on trade union rights saw a debate proposing a general strike to challenge these, moved by Brian Caton of the Prison Officers Association, and seconded by Bob Crow of the RMT, but this was overwhelmingly defeated by Congress.

A motion on the National Minimum Wage was moved by broadcasting union Bectu. President Tony Lennon reminded us that, despite the victories won by trade unions, many of our own members still rely on the minimum wage to support them. He pointed out that there had been a Private Members Bill to allow an opt-out of the minimum wage, that must be defeated. The NUT's Hazel Danson moved an amendment now within the new composite motion that called for the campaign to abolish child poverty to be incorporated within the scope of this campaigning.

The international debate saw motions condemning International Trafficking, and solidarity with trade unionists in Columbia, where many dissidents and trade unionists are murdered by Government backed agents.

Finally, we heard an emergency motion on Pleural Plaques. This is a condition caused by exposure to asbestos, that is often the precursor to full blown asbestosis and mesothelioma. The High Court recently declared that this is a "symptomatic" condition, and the victims are therefore not eligible for compensation.

Construction union UCATT challenged affiliated unions to look at the insurance companies we have affinity deals with, and to see if they have been involved in challenging claims by those with Pleural Plaques "UCATT has, and we've ceased trading with them all !"

Tony Woodley, General Secretary of Unite described pleural plaques as a ticking time bomb inside members bodies, and condemned the fact that three unelected judges, under pressure from insurance companies, could block compensation to the victims, He challenged justice secretary Jack Straw to "support our class and our own people."

Last day tomorrow....

TUC Congress: Tuesday

Yesterday was a positive and constructive day of debate, but you would never believe it from the hysteria in the tabloid press. The Sun implied we were encouraging riots in the street (Brendan Barber warned that massive unemployment often leads to social unrest. This seemingly surprised the Sun) while the Daily Mail condemned our “Fantasy Economics” for daring to suggest that our hugely rich country could fund decent pensions. The Hate Mail also implied that we were calling for public sector pensions to be funded by a “raid” on private pension funds. In fact, speaker after speaker pleaded for support and solidarity with those private sector workers defending their occupational schemes.

The conference opened with the Education debate. The motion from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers was moved by Hank Roberts, a member of the ATL executive and also an NUT Division Secretary from North London. The motion sought to deal with the Bonus Culture amongst some Head Teachers, particularly in Academies, but also in state schools such as Hank’s own (you can read the press coverage of that here) This motion sparked a wide and constructive debate, which widened the scope to look at bonus abuse across the public and private sectors. A delegate from the Communication Workers Union spoke of the massive package awarded to Royal Mail chief Adam Crozier- a seven figure sum that is 1,000% higher than the previous incumbent. The TSSA transport union gave an example of the chief executive of Thomas Cook, taking 7,037,000 (of which 5m was a “synergy bonus”) awarded by a Board of 12 white men, while 2,800 workers were laid off- many of them women. He also drew Congress’ attention to the bosses of publicly owned Network Rail, who are again “lining their pockets… Greed has to go, and we have to tell the Government that !”

A motion from the Association of College Managers raised the sleight-of-hand of what the government is determining “demand led learning” as a smokescreen for cuts, while our sister union UCU warned of a shocking number of lecturers now being employed on short term contracts through agencies.

The debate on Public Services highlighted a range of issues. The media hysteria generated as a response to the high profile and dreadful child protection cases such as Baby Peter has led to a generalized attack on professionals working in both public and voluntary sector Children’s Services. A delegate from Unison introduced himself as a child-care social worker with some trepidation, telling us he is often reluctant to admit that because of the public perception of his profession. Unison’s 50,000 social work members have reported that some areas with vacancy rates for social workers of up to 40%, and this leads to a dangerous overload on existing workers handling very complex child protection cases.

The motion on the Independent Safeguarding Authority recognized the importance of vetting staff working with children and vulnerable people, but raised issues such as the cost for staff: demanding that the potential employer, rather than the applicant should foot the bill for checks. The duplication of processes for those professions (such as teaching) that have to also register and be vetted by professional registers was raised, and the fact that there is no right to present an appeal against inclusion (only a paper based request) was a serious attack on the principles of natural justice.

Judy Moorhouse moved an amendment from the NUT that sought to make sure that registration for the Safeguarding process would not be used as a Trojan horse to register people on the “voluntary” National Identity Database. Judy, a former chair of the General Teaching Council, raised the issue of the amount of so called “soft” information that is held on the exiting enhanced-disclosure CRB check: she gave examples of teachers who had been victims of malicious allegations that had been comprehensively disproved still having that allegation on their CRB check; of a teacher whose adult son had received a police caution (not a conviction) and that this appeared on her CRB, and the worrying case of an individual whose HIV+ status was deemed necessary to include as relevant information on a CRB disclosure !

Motions on Prison Service privatization and the regionalisation of local Fire Control centres were also debated and passed.

The Health and Safety motions continues, with a motion from the Musicians Union and my old union Equity on Performers Occupational Ailments. Graham Hamilton, president of Equity illustrated a story about the dangers of working with pyrotechnics with an entertaining anecdote, which I'll e-mail anybody who asks !

The motion from the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists had created some tabloid and political interest, being on the unexpectedly controversial subject of High Heels. It turns out (had anyone read the motion ?) from listening to the debate that it in fact focused on the issue of CHOICE- a professional association wishing to protect women's right to choose whether to wear shoes that could be potentially damaging to health, in workplaces where currently high heeled shoes were part of the dress code. The speaker pointed out that 2 million working days are lost through foot and lower limb problems.

There was some opposition to this motion- a speaker suggested that it was “well meaning, but allowed the TUC to be portrayed as some kind of fashion killjoy.” However, the motion was overwhelmingly supported by Congress. Mary Turner of GMB (a former Congress president) raised the irony that the Daily Mail had condemned us as wanting to “ban high heels as sexist and a health and safety risk" where, in fact earlier in the year that very same tabloid had run a full page feature on “The Hidden Cost of Heels” (click here to read it) highlighting… you’ve guessed, the long term back and foot problems that can be caused by high heels. As their own columnist Richard Littlejohn might say… "You couldn’t make it up !”

The morning session concluded with an inspiring message from Salvador Valdes Mesa, General Secretary of the Cuban Trades Union federation CTC, where he thanked British trade unionists for their many years of support and solidarity.

The major event of the day was, unsurprisingly, the keynote address from Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He began his speech by paying tribute to the spirit of the Liverpool people. He reminded us again of the movement’s great loss in Jack Jones, former TGWU leader and pensioners’ champion.

We were warned of the great dangers when there is the fear of a depression. He drew a comparison with the depression of the 1930’s when the banks had become the speculators rather than the stewards of people’s money. Facing a financial crisis as serious as 1929, his government had to make a choice: simply to believe the banks’ claims that they had a simple cash flow problem, or conclude that there were far wider structural issues. This is why his Government took the drastic action it did in taking the major banks into partial government ownership.

The Prime Minister listed a number of positive steps his Government had taken, or was pledging, including:-

• 300,000 families helped with mortgage advice and thousands of families saved from home repossession.
• 55,000 young people benefiting from the School Leavers guarantee.
• 21,000 additional apprenticeships to be created in the public sector.
• 1 and a half billion to create 20,000 new affordable houses including the first council house building project for many years (positive, but still a drop in the ocean)
• Plans for a “blacklist” of un-cooperative tax havens around the world
• A pledge to continue raising the National Minimum Wage every year.
• New laws in the next session of Parliament, with Government time given, to give equal rights to agency workers (although no word on whether there will be a qualifying period for those rights, which would scupper many of our supply members…)

He also gave a defence of the NHS, contrasting our system with the debate in the USA- "In Great Britain, you don't have to check your wallet before they check your pulse..."

In the Question and Answer session that followed, a number of interesting and challenging points were made (not necessarily getting an answer...) A speaker from the CWU tackled the Prime Minister about the cuts to the Royal Mail pension- which she’d paid for. PCS demanded an answer (which they didn’t get) about the restoration of national pay bargaining in the Civil Service. A GMB speaker asked about the possibility of Free School Meals for all children (The PM replied that this is being successfully piloted in Hackney and the North West) A young trade union member doing an apprenticeship raised the low level of pay for apprentices (90 per week) and asked why they should not receive the minimum wage ?

NUT General Secretary Christine Blower welcomed the government's commitment to raise the level of per-pupil spending to the average of the independent school sector, and asked whether the government still intended to reach that target. Gordon Brown replied that in 1997 the average spend per-pupil was 2,500, while now it is 6,300: an increase of more than 100%. Average spending on capital projects is higher in the state sector (although much of that is semi-privatised Academies or PFI) Good news, although the answer about the target of matching the private schools for per-pupil spending remains unanswered...

The rest of the afternoon saw debates on reforming the financial sector, saving jobs in the steel industry, and the Arts and Media debate, including a very important motion tacking the freedom of journalists, especially the right to maintain confidential sources.

Following conference, I attended the Education Unions reception with all of the TUC-affiliated Education unions- NUT, Nasuwt, ATL and UCU. A good time was had by all- I managed a 30 second chat with Secretary of State Ed Balls who managed a flying visit- and perhaps a tiny step towards the professional unity we desire was taken !

TUC Congress Report: Monday

The 141st Annual Congress of the TUC opened this morning, with a video paying tribute to the Trade Union pedigree of Liverpool- home to many of the giants of the union movement, and still today the area of the UK with the highest density of trade union membership.

Brendan Barber, the General Secretary reminded us that we are in a different situation to the recent Congresses we've become used to: now that we are in the worst financial crisis for many years. However, he pointed out the folly of those commentators who have described this as a "classless recession": those hit hardest are still young workers, vulnerable workers and especially those in our manufacturing industries. "Those at the top are already heading back to the bonus trough" Brendan reminded us that it was our money which rescued the banks- why should our public services be cut as a consequence ?

Brendan paid tribute to the late Jack Jones, former leader of the TGWU and pensioners champion, who died earlier in the year at the age of 96. "Jack was born in Liverpool, and spilled blood in the fight against fascism [in the Spanish Civil War] Let's carry on working for what Jack believed in... decent jobs, workers rights, public services, solidarity"

The first debates of the Congress were on the NHS- with contributions from many unions organising in that sector- in particular concerns were raised about the direction of the "necessity not nicety" policy.

There was a debate on organising to fight fascism and the far-right, including a contribution from the Professional Footballers Association, which has been campaigning for many years through initiatives like Kick Racism out of Football, and Show Racism the Red Card.

Colin Moses of the Prison Officers Association pointed out that BNP members are already banned from work in the prison service, as such membership displays views that are incompatible with their responsibilities in the prison service. Equally, he argued that this principle should be applied across the public sector. This was agreed by Congress in the composite resolution.

A speaker from the National Union of Journalists warned that the swinging cuts in local newspapers made it much harder for journalists to get out and about to challenge and expose the BNP. He informed us that the NUJ and broadcasting union BECTU are setting up a website to monitor and expose activity from the BNP- especially when that included the intimidation and threatening of journalists.

The motion from the TUC LGBT Conference was moved by Nick Day, who urged us not to simply expose the racism of the BNP, but also their despicable policies towards women and LGBT people. He reminded us of comments by BNP candidates claiming that rape was not serious (it was compared to force feeding a woman chocolate cake) and Nick Griffin's threats of an almighty backlash against gay and lesbian people, culminating in our imprisonment.

After the debate on the anti-racism motions, there was a speech from Gee Walker, mother of the teenager Anthony Walker who was murdered in a racist attack. This was a deeply moving speech, where she spoke not just of communities organising to challenge racism, but also of her values of love and forgiveness. She received a standing ovation from Congress. You can read about the work of the Anthony Walker Foundation here.

During the lunch break, delegates assembled outside for a silent vigil against racism, remembering the victims of racial violence, and highlighting the threat from the BNP- delegates from all unions displayed placards with the message 'Not in My Name'

In the afternoon, the debate on pensions saw a number of powerful contributions. Paul Kenny of the GMB urged us "Do not be embarrassed by arguing for a decent pension provision for working people. Do not apologise for the battles hard fought in the past."

We were urged not to allow the campaign of disinformation being pushed on pension provision, and to show solidarity with workers in the private sector who were being hardest hit by the closure of company schemes. Christine Blower proposing a pensions motion told us that we need to highlight how low many public sector pensions actually are, and to argue that if there was an inequality with some private sector provision then we needed to be levelling up, not down !"

The TUC President Sheila Bearcroft gave her address in the afternoon, speaking of her working life and why she became a passionate trade unionist during a career in the textiles industry. Her resolve and energy was praised in the vote of thanks delivered by two of her colleagues from the GMB.

The NUT was well represented in the Disability Rights debate, with Mandy Hudson speaking powerfully on our behalf, and in the Health and Safety debate the topic of upper limits on workplace temperatures was discussed. NUT has established policy on this- I moved the motion back at the NUT 2007 conference in Harrogate. On this occasion, it was Ian Murch, National Treasurer who spoke for the Union- telling us of a school in his area where a pupil collapsed during a GCSE exam where the temperature reached a staggering 38 degrees. He explained that as this was in a PFI-style project, the school had to take the lack of temperature control up with the private consortium who "manage" the building, only to be told that "comfort cooling had not been part of the building specification !"

The debate on Asbestos began at the end of the day, although there are still motions to complete, including an emergency motion on pleural plaques and the staggering decision by the Law Lords not to allow victims to claim compensation. We need to ensure that this is concluded in the "unfinished business" session at the end of Conference.

After the formal conference closed, I was pleased to attend the reception held by the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, at which Christine Blower spoke of her experiences on the Cuba delegation earlier in the year, and the success of a developing country like Cuba meeting the UN education goals on Primary education for all. Tony Woodly of Unite spoke about the campaign for justice for the Miami 5, and there were contributions from Brendan Barber and fraternal guests from Cuba- including the CTC leader Salvador Valdes Mesa.

Gordon tomorrow....

TUC Congress 2009

This week I have the honour of representing members of the Union at the 141st TUC Congress in Liverpool. I shall be posting an online report of the day’s proceedings from the NUT perspective every evening.

TUC Congress is the policy making body of the largest voluntary sector organisation in Britain- a federation of nearly 7 million workers in 58 of our trade unions, ranging from the mighty (Unison and Unite both boasting more than a million members) to the small staff associations such as the Yorkshire Building Society independent union, the focused professional organisations such as the British Orthopedic Society, and a few unions who have seen their numbers plummet in recent years due to industry changes- the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers now with just a few hundred members- a sad reminder of the butcher of our coal industry under Thatcher and Major. (Coal may not be popular in these climate-change focused times, but it is still shocking that this island, built on coal, imports 2/3 of the coal we use for electricity generating. Anyhow, I digress…)

Congress will debate a full range of policy topics, under the debate headings:

• Organising and rights at work
• Equal Rights
• Economic and industrial affairs
• Global solidarity
• Protecting people at work
• The regional dimension
• Campaigns and communications
• TUC Organsiation

The NUT has motions on the Economic crisis and protecting pensions, and we are also submitting an amendment to a motion from USDAW that links the campaign for increaing the scope of the National Minimum Wage to the wider campaign to eradicate child poverty. The motion on fighting the far right from the TUC LGBT Conference was originally seconded by the NUT at that conference. You can read the full text of all the motions to be debated by clicking here.

The Annual Report is a weighty document outlining the work undertaken by the TUC over the past year. This runs to 226 pages of A4, and can be accessed online clicking here.

It is also pleasing, given my Equalities responsibilities within the union, that this year sees the publication of the TUC’s Equality Audit- last carried out in 2005. There has clearly been significant progress in winning the equality agenda at work- although the report highlights the fact that there is clearly much still to do. It is disappointing that a number of the TUC’s affiliated unions did not take part in the Audit once again.

We are due to be addressed by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown on Tuesday, which will be an interetsing moment- could he be about to manke some radical announcements that will appeal to ordinary working people ? One thing is for sure, he is unlikely to “talk down” to the trade unions in the way that his predecessor did at times: in this election season, he is going to need practical and financial support from as many trade unions as possible (not the NUT, of course, as we remain fiercely party-politically independent, and our political fund is only used to campaign against racist and fascist candidates.)

Congress will also welcome a number of guest speakers: Salvador Valdes Mesa of the Cuban federation of trade unions, and Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK.

I am told that the "great and the good" from government and the Labour Party tend to haunt the corridors, fringe meetings and bars of TUC Congress- I shall report any interesting sightings in my daily report. We know that the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families- Ed Balls- will be present, and is expected to have a short meeting with Chris Blower: I imagine that SATS will be on the agennda for that chat…

Executive Meeting: September 2009

The Executive met for a special meeting on September 10th. The principal items for debate were the TUC Congress and an update on the SATS campaign.

Christine Blower reported on the progress with our campaigning with the NAHT. Both Christine and the NAHT have stressed the importance of unity through the campaign, and I agree that our best and strongest chance of winning the abolition of SATS would come with a widespread Head Teachers’ boycott.

There was discussion at the full executive about the timing of a formal action ballot, which would be needed to make a boycott of the tests “official”. Clearly we would be weakening the campaign if we went ahead before the NAHT were ready, although there was an argument that a strong “Yes” vote would invigorate the NAHT members resolve. Equally, I shared the concern that our members could leave themselves open to attack by non-supportive Head teachers without the protection of a formal ballot.

It is important that all local associations of both our union and the NUT build to a position of enough strength to deliver the overwhelming “yes” vote from a high turnout. In all of the options discussed by the executive, there provision for raising our publicity efforts, to include significant national advertising, and links with supportive organisations such as Authors Against the SATS.

After a detailed debate, the Executive agreed to maintain the campaign with the a formal ballot early in the spring term, if needed. In the meantime, there would be a number of steps:

• We will undertake an exercise to establish likely levels of support for the formal ballot. This will help identify any areas or regions where there is less resolve.
• Christine will be meeting with the Secretary of State, Ed Balls, at TUC Congress, and NAHT will continue to lobby ministers.
• The publicity efforts will be stepped up, to ensure we build massive support from our members.
• In the meantime, NUT and NAHT will issue advice to members about preparing for the SATS.

Christine has received legal opinion that advising members not to undertake "excessive testing preparation" does not require a ballot, as this is advice already stated by the Government and the Expert Group. Head Teachers should be told to direct their staff to “teach the curriculum !" There will be formal guidance to members sent out shortly.

Divisions and associations should continue building support for the campaign, and can expect the full support of HQ and the Executive.

The Executive also discussed attitudes to the motions at TUC Congress. In the main, we agreed to support the recommendation from the General Council, although on a couple of motions we agreed to support rather than seek remission/withdrawal. There was concern that our own motion on the Economic Crisis had been misinterpreted, and would seek to explain and clarify this at the Congress.

The motion from RMT strengthening the role of the TUC Young Members’ forum (to allow it to submit policy motions) will be decided upon at the delegation meeting, as it is unclear whether the motion will be put. As someone who continues to believe that we need to strengthen the involvement and organisation of Young Members within the movement (and our own union !) I will certainly be arguing support if the motion is debated.

I will be publishing my daily TUC Congress report on this blog all of next week.

DisSATisfied? An alternative vision for education

South East Region NUT Young Teachers Training and Social Event
Saturday 10 October 2009, 10:30 – 16:30 plus optional evening activities.
at the Bread & Roses Pub, 68 Clapham Manor Street, Clapham, London, SW4 6DZ

This event is open to ALL young teachers (under 35) in the South East Region of the NUT. Come along and meet other young teachers, discuss how you can help change things for the better and have a good time! The Bread and Roses is a trade union pub and a lively venue for those who want to stay on in the evening and socialise; or you may venture forth into the nightlife of LondonAttendance is FREE. Tea, coffee, etc will be available from 10:30am, with the first session starting promptly at 11:00am. Lunch will be provided and there is an option for dinner - ALL FREE!

Morning workshop sessions on alternative vision for education - Can there be life without SATs? led by Alan Gibbons, popular children’s author and teacher (Visit his website at www.alangibbons.com )

Afternoon sessions on campaigning ideas and strategies. Christine Blower, NUT General Secretary, will open this session.

To book your place: Send an email marked ‘Young Teachers Event’ to south.east@nut.org.uk Give your name, NUT membership number, email and home address, and please indicate any special dietary requirements and if you wish stay for dinner.

You can also visit the South East Young Teachers nework Facebook page by clicking here.