Which Way Ahead For The Union…

and for teachers?

 

 

We have already affirmed that the ‘building blocks’ of the Union are successful Associations and Divisions supported by Regional Office.

 

But what is a successful Association or Division? I’ve had the opportunity to visit quite a number over the last year or so – and there is enormous diversity…. In many ways a strength – but we know that “diversity” is not always positive.

 

The key, in my view, is the determination and ability of the Associations and Divisions to not just recruit but organise members actively, and develop effective local leadership based on that effective membership organisation. This means, of course, organising accessible, interesting and useful meetings rather than “routine agenda” meetings. But it means more than that…

 

I’m convinced that the way to ensure good attendance at such meetings, and involve members in the work of the union in other ways, is to set about establishing strong organisation in schools through effective recruitment and training of School Reps.

 

When asked in one of our surveys what would encourage members to attend union meetings the popular responses were “If I thought it would make a difference”, and  “If I knew someone else who was going”

 

Strong workplace organisation is key to this. If members felt both that the issues they faced in their schools – workload, management practices, pupil behaviour, pay/status, professional control (or the lack of it) – were the meat and substance of local Union meetings… and that national policies and campaigns – “good local schools”, workload, performance management, pay etc – were directly linked with these … and that the meeting/discussion/decisions would lead to a real outcome and a better working life… then we would get teachers back into our meetings, back into the “building blocks” of the Union in an active way. Teachers attend meetings of all kinds willingly… if they are meaningful and useful and "make a difference"  in the reality of their working lives.  So our Association and Division “building blocks” are dependent on strong workplace organisation, in my view.

 

So… how do we develop effective School Rep recruitment, retention and positive organisation at work? This MUST be the focus for the strategic thinking of the Executive… for the “AwayDay” as a start.

 

The key to this lies in training, briefing, and listening to members’ priorities. Many School Reps receive no training, or very little. Of those that do, most are trained locally. Potentially we have 23,000 Reps to train. No system of training delivered nationally, through national courses – even those as good as those we deliver – can meet this massive need. We need to train our Reps in recruitment and regular organisation of members, embedding the Union in the structures of the school, the concept of “the organised workplace”… as well as in being the first port of call for members needing support and initial representation.

 

I suggest that we take a major step towards our agreed organising agenda by agreeing to make the training of Reps a priority. Let’s commit to making training – nationally devised and locally delivered – available and accessible to 5000 School Reps a year for the next four years. We have 300 Local Associations and Divisions – of all sorts of sizes. With Regional Office support, such a target is ambitious - but achievable.

 

If you think this is too ambitious, we should discuss why, and what the alternative is. But I think that with the will to do it, and with it seen as a priority for  our work - including a priority in terms of resources and time - it is not over-ambitious! In order to win support for such a programme, and for the organising agenda generally, we should in the first place encourage every Division to organise high quality training/briefing/debate for Local Officers, led by Regional offices with nationally produced materials concerning these organising issues.

 

We should ‘pilot’ an approach in schools – maybe 100 nationally – probably with NUT heads – where the norm would be

• regular union meetings within directed time as part of the normal school cycle of meetings

• union information included in school briefings etc

• regular "early stage" management consultation with union reps

• additional non-contact time being made available to the Rep for training and to do their job properly

• a joint union approach across teaching and non-teaching unions

• the Rep being involved at all stages of any management discussions with particular members of staff on relevant  issues

• encouragement of all new members of staff to join the relevant union and take part in its activity

• the union view being made clear through school structures to the local community as and when necessary

 

In other words we want to develop schools where the Rep is valued and respected by teachers - and management - where the role is perceived and treated as a very important  and central to the effective running of the school and welfare of teachers...and where members are encouraged by all concerned to see the Rep as the first port of call on all sorts of matters. Alongside the role of the School Rep, such schools are likely to have effective Health & Safety reps and Learning Reps... and again these roles need to be properly recognised and supported - particularly with time and training - by the school.

 

The distinction between “Union training” and the Union’s CPD programme is often not a useful one. Are “performance management”, “pupil behaviour”, “positive management”, “workload reduction”, “reducing stress” areas of “union training” or CPD? Of course they are both… and we could sorely do with our Institute of Professional Learning to deliver them. Our local training should provide the first stages of such CPD – with more advanced stages being delivered nationally.

 

All this local training would, of course, enhance and lead to increased demand for such nationally delivered training and CPD. Perhaps we need to use such national training to make sure that we identify local activists who will become central to Union organisation – perhaps at national or Regional as well as local level – and make sure that through national training and CPD they get the support, encouragement, skills, knowledge and union history and culture that they need to make that contribution.

 

I believe that committing ourselves to such a radical programme of development of the Union across England and Wales will mean that we have to consider carefully how to use our national resources, and how to organise the Union at Regional and national levels. But a lot of these considerations are properly those of our professional Union staff.

 

The job of the Executive is to determine, in the light of the context in which we are working, and in the light of policy, campaigns and the priorities of members, the “line of march”, the “direction of travel” of the Union… its strategic direction.

 

That strategic direction is pretty firmly established as “the organising agenda”, which we all know demands a change in union “culture”. This in turn demands a thoroughgoing debate about HOW to achieve it.

 

What do you think?

 

Perhaps we could ask every Association and Division to discuss the matter, and give us just three or four ideas – priorities – for what the national leadership of the Union need to deliver in terms of union organisation to make their work in organising Reps, members and schools more effective…..

 

  

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