According to Tristram Hunt more than 400,000 students are being taught by unqualified staff. Hunt claims there are 17, 100 unqualified teacher in state funded schools - a rise of 16% in the last year alone. The actual figure could be much higher than this with teaching assistants increasingly being given 'intervention groups' which are really whole classes, and the use of the role of 'learning coach' being used in a similar way to mask unqualified teacher employment.
Hunt promises that Labour will reverse the rules which allow academies and free-schools to use unqualified staff. That is to be welcomed but it does not go far enough. There is a reason schools are using unqualified staff - they can get away with paying them less. As school budgets get squeezed schools will increasingly use unqualified staff or use the new pay policies to pay qualified staff less. Labour should commit to increase school funding so not only can we avoid using unqualified staff but we can reduce class sizes, give teachers more PPA time and therefore give students a better education.
Labour should also commit to reverse academies and free schools. Bringing all schools back into state ownership and local authority control, with a national contract and negotiated pay scale for teachers.
The NUT should organise unqualified teachers, and work towards one union for all school workers, to protect their rights at work and level up pay to the level of qualified staff rather than setting up a divide in the workforce where employers can play us against each other.
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
Thursday, 18 December 2014
Monday, 15 December 2014
No surprises: early signs are that performance pay is already hitting teachers hard
The NUT National Executive on December 11th received some early findings from a survey of members subject to the first year of performance-related pay on the main pay range. A major part of this government's assault on teachers' pay was the abolition of the main pay range from September 2013 and its replacement by a system which gave schools the power to pick and choose who gets to progress each year. By claiming that performance has not been good enough school leaders can now deny teachers the annual pay rise they would have had automatically. According to advice issued by the DfE as a result of lobbying by the NUT teachers at risk of failing to progress should be given plenty of prior warning and there should be 'no surprises'.
One of the major indications from the NUT survey is that this 'no surprises' principle is not worth the paper is it written on. A clear majority of those teachers who have been refused pay progression this year say that they had no warning that this decision was likely. 5000 members responded to the survey and an unexpectedly large proportion (30%) did not progress. Of these 88% were not told in advance that they were likely to be turned down for pay progression. There also appears to be higher rates of rejection in primary schools and amongst black and minority ethnic (BME) teachers.
These are alarming figures for the Union and for all teachers. There was an expectation that the real impact of PRP on teachers pay would not be seen for several years, after the system had bedded in. Heads would wait before using their new powers, it was assumed, until they had become the norm. This would avoid igniting disputes or causing unnecessary division and friction. In fact, if these figures are any kind of guide, the new pay arrangements are already holding back the pay of a huge proportion of teachers. And, as the Union's material has pointed out, the denial of pay progression for one year early in your career will cost members many thousands of pounds due to the knock on effect of preventing progression to subsequent progression in the following years.
What has also been highlighted in these figures is the folly of relying on a casework approach or even school-by-school action to deal with this assault. It is unlikely that many (or any) local NUT officers thinks that as much as 30% of their members have been denied pay progression. One reason for this may be that the people most likely to respond to the survey are those with most reason to be unhappy with the new system. Even if we allow for that factor, however, this figure suggests that the rejection rate in this first year is much higher than expected. At a recent OGM in Leeds school reps indicated that they believed many people who had been turned down had been reluctant to tell anyone including the rep out of embarrassment and feeling of failure. If members respond by feeling that denial is an individual failing (and it is understandable and predictable that many will) then the prospects of a workplace challenge of any kind is minimal.
Of course we should run appeals were we can and encourage them as a a sign that we will make it difficult for schools to hold down members pay. Even more importantly we should seek to collectivise our response so that schools where these new powers are used to prevent progression face industrial action. Neither of these strategies will protect the great majority of members, however, who continue to need a national strategy to restore national pay, abolish PRP and win collective bargaining.
We also had an update on talks with the DfE on workload. The last meeting with them is on December 17th after which there will be fortnightly meetings in January. The Secretary of State and senior civil servants continue to claim that a major initiative on workload and further advice on pay will be emerge as a result. There is no reasons to expect either of these announcements will come close to our workload and pay action demands and every reason to think we will need to use our two days of national action to remind the government of the strength of feeling in classrooms and staffrooms.
Friday, 12 December 2014
Posters to go up in your school
We now have lovely posters as well. Feel free to print and distribute. If you would like some glossy ones sent to you then email us at electpatmurphy@gmail.com.
What they say! What they mean!
From Leeds Teacher, December 12th.
At
this time of year we often receive Christmas cards with messages - some
heartfelt, some going t hrough the motions and some rather more ambivalent. A
good time of year then to look at some of the phrases officers at Leeds NUT
have heard whilst out and about in schools across our city and our interpretation
of what is often really meant. Some are
the proclamations of those headteachers who, to use a euphemistic phrase
borrowed from the police, are “known to the office”, Others are the utterances
of various ‘movers and shakers’ whose orbit periodically crosses our path. Of
course some buzzwords are already well known.
Outstanding is what everyone
is expected to be. Good means no
better than you should be and Requires
Improvement means go away and shoot yourself. Now for the rest!
Statement: Whatever decision we
make the children will be at the very centre of it.
Meaning: Brace yourselves
staff: Something very nasty is about to land on you!
Statement: I am not afraid of
unions.
Meaning: I am very insecure
in my role and very jittery about meeting the elected representatives of the
staff employed in my school - people who will actually know what they are
talking about.
Statement: Really it is all about time management.
Meaning: You don’t seriously
expect to have a life as well as teach for a living surely. Are you mad?
Statement: This is very much
the direction of travel.
Meaning: I am keen to jump onto
the latest flavour of the month / bandwagon / gravy train and, who knows, there
might be something in it for me. Wayhey!
Statement: This could be a valuable developmental opportunity.
Meaning: I want to dump an onerous responsibility on you for little or no reward in the foreseeable future. Have fun sucker!
Meaning: I want to dump an onerous responsibility on you for little or no reward in the foreseeable future. Have fun sucker!
Statement: We are the worst
funded primary school in Leeds.
Meaning: Like every other
primary school in Leeds we need more dosh. Lend us a tenner!
Statement These are non
negotiables.
Meaning Here are a set of
arbitrary, possibly petty and fairly random rules which I have decided to
impose but cannot be bothered discussing or explaining. Now leave me alone!
Statement A number of parents
have been complaining about lack of homework.
Meaning One parent has complained and he is on the governing body and always likes to carp on about this. I hate him but I fear him also.
Meaning One parent has complained and he is on the governing body and always likes to carp on about this. I hate him but I fear him also.
Statement: There is too much litter in our school and in
and around our school grounds.
Meaning: There will always be too much litter - it is improbable that there would ever be just enough or too little but it gives me an excuse to complain about something, implying that it is somehow your fault. Have a nice day!
Meaning: There will always be too much litter - it is improbable that there would ever be just enough or too little but it gives me an excuse to complain about something, implying that it is somehow your fault. Have a nice day!
Statement: I think it is important that we are not
negative about this.
Meaning: Who gave you the right to an opinion? Only speak if you’ve got nice things to say. Here are some spectacles – the rosy tints will help your perspective. That’ll be a fiver!
Meaning: Who gave you the right to an opinion? Only speak if you’ve got nice things to say. Here are some spectacles – the rosy tints will help your perspective. That’ll be a fiver!
Statement: We have been advised that to give this information may
contravene the data protection Act.
Meaning: Not telling you! Nyahhhhhh!
Meaning: Not telling you! Nyahhhhhh!
Statement: Your pay and conditions of service of service will not be
affected.
Meaning: For the (chuckle
chuckle) moment your pay and (chortle chortle) conditions of service will not
be (tee hee) affected (Ha ha ha ha!) Don’t worry you’ll get what’s coming to
you!
Merry Christmas to all our members
Beware the ‘Narcissistic
Sociopath’
Untold misery is being inflicted on staff in a small number of our schools by Heads who use bullying techniques to cover up their own inadequacy. The pressure of Ofsted and its high stakes accountability regime can help explain the general culture of stress and excessive demands in schools. But this is something different and much worse.
Unfortunately some of our schools are being led by people
with sociopathic tendencies. In particular we are seeing behaviour patterns
associated with a personality type known as ‘the narcissistic sociopath’
defined as ‘a tendency to view others
not as fellow human beings, but rather as tools or means to an end. If certain
other people are deemed unable to further the narcissistic sociopath's given
agenda, they are normally cast aside. People diagnosed with this type of
personality disorder usually do not have boundaries when it comes to
manipulating and victimising others if doing so will lead to their own benefit’.
If you are
unlucky enough to work in one of those schools you will recognise the
description and the symptoms and impact outlined below:
Typical behaviour patterns:
- Persistent criticism
- Constant threats
- Lack of empathy -
is unable or unwilling to identify with, acknowledge, or accept the
feelings, needs, preferences, priorities, and choices of others
- Use of formal procedures routinely
- Inability or unwillingness to use
support (CPD, training or advice) to achieve goals
- Imposition of unreasonable demands
or workload
- Refusal to listen to concerns or
alternatives
- Leadership style which can be
characterised as ‘my way or the highway’
- Creation of a culture of fear in
the workplace
- Serial targeting of individuals
- Vindictive behaviour eg pursuing
teachers who have left to prevent them securing new posts
Impact on individuals:
- Absence of praise leading to a permanent
feeling of being undervalued
- High stress levels
- Constant fear of criticism and
doing ‘the wrong thing’
- Health problems
- Dread of coming to work
- High risk of being placed in
procedures which threaten your employment
- Deliberate pressure to leave work
- Feeling of powerlessness and
isolation
Impact on a school:
- High staff turnover every year or term
- High sickness absence rates
- Low morale
- Loss of experienced staff and
middle managers
- SLT with no independent judgement-
selected and appointed to carry out the will of the narcissist and forbidden
to challenge or question
- Persistent and unexplained disappearance
of staff
What can we do?
It is
notoriously difficult to tackle this kind of behaviour in an effective way. If
you are the victim you are very strongly advised to contact the Union. In
reality it is very likely that you will have to at some stage as the impact on
you becomes intolerable. The most effective response by far, however, is the
collective one. This kind of management style is dangerous for all staff in the end and damaging and
destructive to the whole school. Watching
it happen to others and hoping it never affects you is the workplace equivalent
of Russian Roulette.
Where we can compile the evidence and generate a sense of
collective will and determination amongst staff we can challenge bullying
management. If we can’t always stop it we can at least clip its wings.
Bullying is never good
management, never the victim’s fault and never justified. Don’t
suffer it alone and don’t watch colleagues suffer it alone!
___________________________________________________________
Thursday, 11 December 2014
Leaflet for the campaign
Leaflets for the campaign have now been made. They're off to the printers this weekend and will land in schools in the first week in January.
If you want to order some for your association or you school email electpatmurphy@gmail.com with how many and an address to send them to.
If you want to order some for your association or you school email electpatmurphy@gmail.com with how many and an address to send them to.
Even Ofsted thinks academies aren't that good!
Today Michael Wilshaw, the hated head of Ofsted, has said that struggling schools are no better as academies than under local authority control.
But don't get out the party hats too soon. Whilst Wilshaw might be keen to have a dig at academies in his ongoing spat with the Tories, he still doesn't think local authorities are that good either.
Well we think local authorities are the place schools should be. Where they fail it is usually down to understaffing or under-funding as a result of central government budget cuts.
But don't get out the party hats too soon. Whilst Wilshaw might be keen to have a dig at academies in his ongoing spat with the Tories, he still doesn't think local authorities are that good either.
Well we think local authorities are the place schools should be. Where they fail it is usually down to understaffing or under-funding as a result of central government budget cuts.
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Why the insistence that state schools be more like private schools?
Mossbourne academy in Hackney, where famously Ofsted's Michel Wilshaw was headteacher, has said it will be selecting 10 year 9 school places each year by student's potential rowing ability.
Why rowing? Because the headteacher Peter Hughes wants the academy to be the first state school to win the Henley Regatta. He said “We’re obviously looking at what the elite private schools are doing and doing our best to replicate that."
In February Michael Gove also said he wanted state schools to be more like private schools. Not by suggesting that they should have the smaller class sizes and better facilities that private schools get by their funding, but by saying that state schools should be open longer hours and have more testing and competition.
Whilst I think every child should have the choice and facilities to row if they want, and that sure, fine if a state school wants to compete in the Henley Regatta go for it. I think that this need to emulate private schools is worrying.
The only way we should emulate private schools is by increasing the funding of state schools to the sorts of levels private schools manage to hoard. One way to do that and level the educational playing field between state and private — abolish private schools!
Why rowing? Because the headteacher Peter Hughes wants the academy to be the first state school to win the Henley Regatta. He said “We’re obviously looking at what the elite private schools are doing and doing our best to replicate that."
In February Michael Gove also said he wanted state schools to be more like private schools. Not by suggesting that they should have the smaller class sizes and better facilities that private schools get by their funding, but by saying that state schools should be open longer hours and have more testing and competition.
Whilst I think every child should have the choice and facilities to row if they want, and that sure, fine if a state school wants to compete in the Henley Regatta go for it. I think that this need to emulate private schools is worrying.
The only way we should emulate private schools is by increasing the funding of state schools to the sorts of levels private schools manage to hoard. One way to do that and level the educational playing field between state and private — abolish private schools!
Nicky Morgan “As a Christian Secretary of State for Education, I will oppose secular, politically correct dogma”
After much set by the union's "Gove must go!" slogan, after which Gove did go, and we were left with ... another Tory! Who'da thunk it!?
Much has been said about the problems of Nicky Morgan. She is anti-LGBT rights, and, well a Tory! However somehow we seem to be struggling to hate her as much as we hated Gove.
Well here something that might help. In an interview for Conservative Home (a Tory blog), Morgan said “As a Christian Secretary of State for Education, I will oppose secular, politically correct dogma”.
Not only that but ... "as an Education Secretary I’m a huge supporter of faith schools, a huge supporter of Church schools, I think that our education system owes a massive amount to the Church of England and to the Catholic Church."
So the new Secretary of State for Education is a bit big on religious interference in children's education and of institutionalising that with faith schools.
She also seems quite keen on Grammar schools. “Well we set out very clear criteria for how the extension of a grammar school could be approved, and obviously we’ve got one application that’s been made at the moment that’s going to be decided on those very clear criteria.”
Good old tory then, dividing the rich from the poor!
Much has been said about the problems of Nicky Morgan. She is anti-LGBT rights, and, well a Tory! However somehow we seem to be struggling to hate her as much as we hated Gove.
Well here something that might help. In an interview for Conservative Home (a Tory blog), Morgan said “As a Christian Secretary of State for Education, I will oppose secular, politically correct dogma”.
Not only that but ... "as an Education Secretary I’m a huge supporter of faith schools, a huge supporter of Church schools, I think that our education system owes a massive amount to the Church of England and to the Catholic Church."
So the new Secretary of State for Education is a bit big on religious interference in children's education and of institutionalising that with faith schools.
She also seems quite keen on Grammar schools. “Well we set out very clear criteria for how the extension of a grammar school could be approved, and obviously we’ve got one application that’s been made at the moment that’s going to be decided on those very clear criteria.”
Good old tory then, dividing the rich from the poor!
Monday, 1 December 2014
Launch meeting for Pat's campaign
All supporters are welcome to a launch meeting for Pat's campaign to discuss how to run the campaign and how to get involved.
When: Saturday 13th December
Time: 4-5pm
Where: UCL Pearson G17, Gower Street, London
https://www.facebook.com/events/396952380430097/
When: Saturday 13th December
Time: 4-5pm
Where: UCL Pearson G17, Gower Street, London
https://www.facebook.com/events/396952380430097/
Friday, 28 November 2014
Officially on the ballot paper
I am now officially on the ballot paper. Thank you for all the associations who have nominated me.
The next step is to get publicity out there. If you think you can help publicise my candidacy please get in touch @ electpatmurphy@gmail.com . We particularly need people to help with press coverage and internet coverage.
Can your association send out leaflets and posters to schools? Get in touch.
The next step is to get publicity out there. If you think you can help publicise my candidacy please get in touch @ electpatmurphy@gmail.com . We particularly need people to help with press coverage and internet coverage.
Can your association send out leaflets and posters to schools? Get in touch.
Wednesday, 8 October 2014
Nominations roll in
A big thank you to Wirral, Barnsley, Warwickshire and Greenwich NUT associations who have all nominated me for DGS in the last two weeks.
Not all of these associations would usually nominate a left candidate or consider nominating at all. The message is resonating in all sorts of places.
Thank you also to Bolton who hosted a lively hustings event and will be voting next month.
That now takes me up to a total of 8 nominations so far, 2 more are needed to secure a place on the ballot paper. If you association hasn't nominated please see the link on the right of this page for guidelines on how to nominate. Please also invite me to come and speak alongside other candidates.
Not all of these associations would usually nominate a left candidate or consider nominating at all. The message is resonating in all sorts of places.
Thank you also to Bolton who hosted a lively hustings event and will be voting next month.
That now takes me up to a total of 8 nominations so far, 2 more are needed to secure a place on the ballot paper. If you association hasn't nominated please see the link on the right of this page for guidelines on how to nominate. Please also invite me to come and speak alongside other candidates.
Sunday, 7 September 2014
Bad decision shows the need to organise the rank and file.
The decision by the NUT Executive not to join our support staff colleagues in
UNISON, GMB and UNITE when they take strike action on October 14th is a huge
disappointment and will come as a major blow to workers in those unions as they
prepare to follow up on July 10th. This will be the first day of joint strike
action in the public sector in recent years which will not involve the NUT. In
2008, 2011 (twice) and July 10th this year we have been at the heart of such
events. The decision to abstain from this one is a watershed and not a good
one.
At the September Executive I proposed, and Martin Powell Davies seconded, a proposal that we take action alongside our sisters and brothers in the local government unions on October 14th. We even included a provision to call this action off if the other unions changed their plans due to progress on their dispute. 12 Executive members supported this proposal but 26 opposed it. Members are entitled to know the arguments put for this retreat. The most common was that we are to hold a major consultation with members about the future of our own campaign this term and that isn't due to end until October 23rd. It was argued that we should wait until that finished before calling further action. We did point out that no other aspect of the campaign was to be suspended in this way. Street stalls, lobbies of MPs, action in schools- all of this can continue. Only the possibility of industrial action is to be put on hold. And this at a time when some of our fellow workers in schools, the same people who struck alongside us in July will be taking further action.
It was also said that we have a different dispute but, of course, that was no less true in July than it is now and yet it was seen then as an advantage to strike together. Evidence was presented to suggest that support for July 10th was 'patchy'. Apart from the fact that is is always true (action is never evenly supported across the entire country) we all knew that late July was not the optimum time for teachers to strike. Instead it was a date settled on to allow a greater overall impact due to the action of other unions. October 14th, on the other hand, doesn't have that disadvantage and will coincide with the first decisions to refuse pay increments to main scale teachers who could previously expect automatic increases. We could reasonably have expected a greater turnout and an even more successful day than July 10th.
While disappointing, the decision not to take part shouldn't come entirely as a surprise. I am standing in the election for NUT Deputy General Secretary precisely because I think the resistance to the attacks on our pensions and pay has been poorly-led for at least three years. I was asked to stand by an organisation of NUT branches who share that view and decided to work to create a more effective strategy which could win. This organisation, the Local Associations National Action Campaign (LANAC) is more important now than ever. If you share our disappointment at the decision to abstain from October 14th I would appeal to you to keep your morale high and take some positive steps.
At the conference which launched LANAC in June 2012 I urged delegates from associations to follow the advice of the American trade union giant Joe Hill, 'Don't mourn, organise'. We should respond to the current situation in the same spirit.
At the September Executive I proposed, and Martin Powell Davies seconded, a proposal that we take action alongside our sisters and brothers in the local government unions on October 14th. We even included a provision to call this action off if the other unions changed their plans due to progress on their dispute. 12 Executive members supported this proposal but 26 opposed it. Members are entitled to know the arguments put for this retreat. The most common was that we are to hold a major consultation with members about the future of our own campaign this term and that isn't due to end until October 23rd. It was argued that we should wait until that finished before calling further action. We did point out that no other aspect of the campaign was to be suspended in this way. Street stalls, lobbies of MPs, action in schools- all of this can continue. Only the possibility of industrial action is to be put on hold. And this at a time when some of our fellow workers in schools, the same people who struck alongside us in July will be taking further action.
It was also said that we have a different dispute but, of course, that was no less true in July than it is now and yet it was seen then as an advantage to strike together. Evidence was presented to suggest that support for July 10th was 'patchy'. Apart from the fact that is is always true (action is never evenly supported across the entire country) we all knew that late July was not the optimum time for teachers to strike. Instead it was a date settled on to allow a greater overall impact due to the action of other unions. October 14th, on the other hand, doesn't have that disadvantage and will coincide with the first decisions to refuse pay increments to main scale teachers who could previously expect automatic increases. We could reasonably have expected a greater turnout and an even more successful day than July 10th.
While disappointing, the decision not to take part shouldn't come entirely as a surprise. I am standing in the election for NUT Deputy General Secretary precisely because I think the resistance to the attacks on our pensions and pay has been poorly-led for at least three years. I was asked to stand by an organisation of NUT branches who share that view and decided to work to create a more effective strategy which could win. This organisation, the Local Associations National Action Campaign (LANAC) is more important now than ever. If you share our disappointment at the decision to abstain from October 14th I would appeal to you to keep your morale high and take some positive steps.
- Affiliate your local NUT association to LANAC or invite a speaker to one of your local meetings
- Ensure that your local secretary puts DGS nominations on an association OGM before December and propose my nomination
- Vote 'YES' and urge other members to do likewise in the NUT consultation on the future if the campaign.
- Meet in your school group and discuss what members can do to support our colleagues in UNISON, GMB and UNITE on October 14th. This should include discussion about whether it is safe to open the school in the absence of key staff and whether it is possible to do our jobs without teaching assistants unless we actually cover for the work they do. It should also consider whether members who struck with support staff in July will refuse to cross any picket lines they may put up in October.
- Look out for LANAC material which will give more advice on supporting October 14th.
At the conference which launched LANAC in June 2012 I urged delegates from associations to follow the advice of the American trade union giant Joe Hill, 'Don't mourn, organise'. We should respond to the current situation in the same spirit.
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Nomination Form: Election of NUT Deputy General Secretary 2015-2020
Nomination Form: Election of NUT Deputy General
Secretary 2015-2020
COMPLETE SHADED AREAS -
PLEASE WRITE CLEARLY
Name of Candidate:
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Home Address :
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School/Workplace Address:
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Mr
Patrick Murphy
Membership No: C34810
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25
Norfolk Gardens
Chapel
Allerton
Leeds
LS7
4PP
Tel. No: 07971990365
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Leeds
NUT
Adams
Lodge
Adams
Court
Leeds
LS12
1DB
Tel. No. 0113 244 9864
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Association(s)
of which a member for the 7 years immediately preceding the opening of the
ballot, ie, the period 3 June 2007 – 4 June 2014 inclusive.
Current
Association: Leeds
OR
Union
Official - post held:
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THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION MUST BE COMPLETED IN FULL
DECLARATION: We the undersigned, hereby certify
that:
(a) not less than 7 days’ notice of the general
meeting, stating the business to be transacted, was given;
(b) the consent for nomination has been
obtained of the candidate named above;
(c) the member named above was properly nominated by the:-
Association:
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No:
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BY
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(i) ballot
of members of the above-named association;
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OR
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(ii) at a
quorate general meeting of the above-named association on:
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Date of meeting:
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Attended by members
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Quorum:
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SIGNED
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Secretary:*
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President:*
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Date:
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*If not
present at the meeting then another officer of the Association who was present.
Note
- two separate signatures are required.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF
NOMINATION FOR DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY 2015-2020
Please complete the box below for prompt
acknowledgement
Name:
|
Closing date
for nominations:
WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER
2014
This slip will be
date-stamped and returned immediately to the secretary of the nominating
association. If it is not returned to you, please remember to enquire within
7 days of posting the nomination form, or not later than the closing date
for receipt of nominations. This slip will be required as proof of
submission of a nomination in the event of any query.
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Address:
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Post Code
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NOMINATION GUIDANCE CHECKLIST
Below is a checklist which is designed to help you ensure that
nominations made by your constituent association are within the rules and
therefore valid
If Association Rules specify that a ballot
must be held then see Section 3 - Ballot
below.
If not, the nomination should be put on the
agenda of the General Meeting – See
Section 1, 2 below.
Section 1 – Notice
1. Members
must be given seven days’ written notice of the meeting.
2. The
notice MUST specify 'Nominations for XXX Election to be considered’
e.g.
Nominations for Deputy General Secretary
2015-2020
3. The
notice should specify the number of nominations the association can make
e.g.
Deputy General Secretary x 1
5. If
it is anticipated the meeting will be inquorate the notice should state
"in event of meeting being
inquorate
any names submitted by 5pm on (insert date of meeting) will be included on
ballot paper to
members.
(This will avoid the need to send out a further letter seeking nominations).
Section 2 – Nominations at a General Meeting
1.
The Chair will ask for names from members and
the committee to be put forward for consideration
along
with those received by the Secretary prior to the meeting.
2. The
Chair will present the list to the meeting:
(a) If only
one name is received the Chair will
ask the meeting:
Do
you wish "name" to be the nominated candidate of the "name"
association? YES/NO
(b) If
more than one name is received the Chair will ask the meeting:
Q.1 Do you wish to make a nomination from any
of the names listed YES/NO
(c) If
the meeting votes to make a nomination the Chair will ask:
Q.2 Please
identify the candidate of your choice:
Note:
In the event that a majority of members vote in favour of making a nomination
(Q.1), votes in Q.2 will be counted. If you vote "No" in Q.1, you may
still vote in Q.2"
6. Votes
can be counted on a simple majority basis
Section 3 – Ballot -
specified by rules or following an inquorate general meeting.
Unless step 5 in section 1 above has been
followed (or the local rules of the association requires a ballot to select
candidates) then steps 1 and 2 must be carried out.
●
Letter to members, apart from students,
seeking names for nomination.
●
Ensure return address and deadline specified.
Form of Ballot Paper
If only
one name is received the question is:
Do you wish "name" to be the
nominated candidate of the "name" association?
YES/NO
If more than one name is received two
questions are required, together with the explanatory Note below:
Q.1 Do you wish to make a nomination from any
of the names listed below in Q.2?
YES/NO
Q.2
Please mark with an "X" the candidate(s) of your choice:
NAME A
|
|
NAME B
|
|
NAME C
|
|
Note:
In
the event that the majority of members vote "No" to Q.1 (i.e., that
they do not wish to make a nomination from any of the names listed), the votes
to Q.2 will not be counted.
If
there is a majority vote in favour of making a nomination ALL votes to Q.2 will
be counted. Therefore even if a member votes "No" to Q.1, they may
still vote in Q.2. This must be made clear on the ballot paper.
Depending upon the outcome of the first count,
the nominated candidate shall be the person with the most votes.
COMMENTS
●
You
should take your nomination form to the meeting in order that the declaration,
which must be signed by two officers present, can be completed.
●
Please
ensure that you enter the candidate's name and membership number on the
form. The boxes for the details of home
and school address should be completed wherever possible, but do not delay
sending in the form if you do not have this information to hand.
●
Forms
received after the deadline will be automatically ruled invalid.
●
Returned
ballot papers should be opened in the presence of two officers
●
The
SIGNED hard copy can be 1) posted in the reply paid envelope, 2) faxed or 3)
scanned and emailed in accordance with the timetables set out in the nomination
circular.
●
Unsigned
forms which are emailed must be followed by a signed copy in one of the
above three formats and received by the deadline.
TIMETABLE
Deputy General Secretary 2015-20
Closing date for receipt of nominations at HQ Mon
1 Dec 2014
Despatch of Ballot Papers to members eligible
to vote Mon
5 Jan 2015
Ballot papers to be returned to Independent
Scrutineer by Midday Mon 26 Jan 2015
Friday, 29 August 2014
Right-wing candidate joins the race to be DGS.
Right-wing candidate joins the race to be DGS.
On Friday
August 29th NUT secretaries received a message from Executive member
Ian Grayson announcing his entry into the forthcoming election for Deputy
General Secretary of the Union. Ian is the Executive member for the North East
district, a prominent member of the conservative Broadly Speaking group and a
mainstream Labour Party supporter. It isn’t clear whether he has the support of
that group for his candidature or whether this is a sign of some division on
the right of the Union. In any case the purpose of elections is to allow
members to debate the alternative directions for their union and Ian’s entry
could mean that the current debate between an advocate of the current strategy (Kevin Courtney) and a candidate who thinks we need to step it up (myself) is broadened to include
someone who thinks we need to pull back from action and rely exclusively on
persuasion and reasoned argument.
That is the
only explicit message that can be gleaned from Ian’s appeal for nominations. He
makes it clear that ‘I do not believe that industrial
action will bring about the policy changes we would want. We need to approach
matters differently’. He doesn’t really spell out what this different approach
would amount to but he does repeatedly refer to ‘reasoned argument’ and
‘soundly-based, well-argued policies’ claiming that if we can produce these
things ‘only then can we hope to be listened to by government’.
NUT
members should need no more reason to reject Ian’s request for support than
that. There are many things that should have been, and still could be, done
differently and better in our three-year long campaign to defend teachers’
conditions and stand up for education but the lack of well-argued and reasoned
policies is not one of them. The Union’s education policies and the wealth of
evidence accumulated to support them are, in fact, one of our main strengths.
And it isn’t just education- we have dismantled the case for pension reform,
called the government’s bluff on their claim that pensions are unaffordable and
taken apart the absurd argument that longer days and shorter holidays improve
educational outcomes across the world. The suggestion that the NUT lacks
reasoned, evidenced policies on conditions or education is nonsense.
And
it is also a claim that Ian has never made on the Executive. Given every
opportunity to improve or challenge Union policies he has by and large
supported and welcomed them. But that’s not the worst thing. Ian Grayson’s
material lets the government and Michael Gove in particular off the hook in the
most outrageous way. In effect he argues that we haven’t been listened to
because our case was not well-argued or reasonable. The truth is that we have
not been listened to despite the
reason and evidence because we have been challenging core ideological
obsessions of the present government. The only time we have seen some movement
in our direction has been when we backed up our arguments with collective
action.
Beyond
that Ian’s election material suggests that we could hardly rely on him to
present a well-argued and evidence based case. He claims that the Union is
dominated by people who are out of touch with the concerns of ordinary
teachers. In fact the NUT is the only teacher union (and one of the few unions
of any kind) to have grown consistently over the last ten years. He claims that
union resources are not always used to defend member and that there are too
many ‘wasteful initiatives and distractions from our core work’ but gives not a
single example of either. He wants to see our commitment to professional unity
become ‘more than a cliché of platform rhetoric’ when in fact the NUT have
taken joint action with ATL (on pensions in 2011), NASUWT (2013) and even NAHT
and recently organised a teacher unity conference when no other union would. If
anything we were too slavish and deferential in allowing the NASUWT to hold
back the pace of our urgent campaign to resist the pension and pay changes
which have dramatically worsened our conditions since 2011.
Ian
Grayson does get one thing right. He says in his appeal for nominations that ‘the NUT will stand or fall on its reputation for defending and supporting
members’. We have done that a lot better than Ian’s approach would have done
since 2010 but not as well as we could have done given the scale of the attacks
and the determination shown by members. We need to take that campaign to defend
and support members forward and make it more effective. I am asking
associations to nominate me for DGS so that we can do that. A nomination or
vote for Ian is instead a call for a retreat and a counsel of despair.
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