Published in Education for Tomorrow.
Around 16 months ago,
the National Union of Teachers declared a dispute with the Secretary
of State for Education over pensions, pay, working conditions and
jobs, and balloted its membership for strike action and action short
of a strike on the three latter issues. This built on an existing
dispute and ballot in relation to pensions and linked with a dispute
declared by sister union NASUWT on all four issues less than one year
previously.
This is, of course, a
clear trade dispute in terms of the issues raised with the Secretary
of State and is the subject of legitimate industrial action, even
under Britain's restrictive anti-union laws. But the changes to
teachers pay, pensions and working conditions, and the onslaught of
job losses, particularly at local authority level, are part of a much
wider programme of change which extends way beyond the bounds of
national policy.
