Pay Rally - the NUT contribution

irstly let me say what a privilege it is to share the platform with Mark from PCS – a union second to none in defending its members against a real onslaught on jobs, pay and pensions from the Government – and the other Mark from CWU, who have very recently decided to take the Government on over pay. I also want to say that I am very proud of our London branches who have called people together for this Public Sector Pay Rally this evening – and to tell you that the NUT has sent a circular to all its branches urging them to do likewise, to raise the matter in every school with all the unions, in Trades Councils – everywhere that there are public sector workers – to get this campaign underway.

I don’t know if you read the same newspapers as me – but apparently there has been recently an increase in robbery and mugging, in bullying and coercion, in dishonest and fraudulent scamming and in lying and dishonourable behaviour… and that’s just the Government!

You know Blair made it clear what he was up to just a few weeks after the 1997 election, when he told the TUC

The first is to bring the economy fully into tune with the new globalised economy….

The second is to reform the welfare state so that it is not necessary for the Government to be the provider of everything…”

If we had not known before, we should have realised then. In direct challenge to the TUC – at our own Congress – Blair was telling us that there was to be no change of direction under the New Labour Government – that privatisation, labour “flexibility”, and competition between workers driving down wages and conditions were to be the “challenges” that his government hoped to meet.

All this was represented in the attempted mugging some years later of public sector workers, as the Government sought to destroy our pension schemes and raise the age of retirement. But on that occasion each of the muggers’ targets refused to lie down and accept it. We stood together and faced them down. And the muggers ran away. Of course it could have been a more complete victory – of course we will have to fight again – but that’s the nature of the society we live in… ordinary working people have very little in the way of political power, and are subject to attacks over and over again for as long as our society is structures that way… and our unions are there to enable us to combine to fight back. But, make no mistake, our unity on pensions inflicted a defeat on Blair’s government that they have not forgotten, and which they will not forgive.

So now the muggers are back… but this time in the form of pickpockets, sneak thieves, trying to surreptitiously “dip” our wallets and handbags.

Our new Prime Minister, Gordon "The Bounce" Brown, followed in Blair's footsteps - almost 10 years to the day - making his way to the Trades Union Congress to address us. The 'bounce' in New Labour's poll figures is, of course, almost entirely the result of who is no longer leader, rather than the result of who is now leader! So, anticipating an early General Election, this is what we heard.

"So the sheer scale, scope and size of the global change is a wake-up call to all of us. We all must rise to the challenges of global change: businesses, teachers, politicians, trade unionists, all of us...

That means to achieve it we must embrace a new mission for this generation: to unlock all the talent of all the people of this country of Britain.... Congress, today I am issuing to you an invitation to work side-by-side in a national effort to raise our skills and raise the standards so that together we can meet and master the forces of globalisation....

So let me be straightforward with you, pay discipline is essential to prevent inflation, to maintain growth and to create more jobs, so that we never return to the Conservative pattern of boom and bust ever again, and because this Government will take no risk with the economy we will only make promises we can afford."

Brown's 45 minute lecture on how we should take his "pay discipline" - a 2% limit is what he means - if we want to "unlock all the talent of all the people" to compete with China and India received less than 30 seconds of applause. He had said nothing about the massive 41% pay rise last year, with 37% the year before for private sector top bosses. He had said nothing about redirecting the massive funding of war towards services for our people. He had said nothing about halting the dash to privatisation. He had said nothing about the widening "poverty/wealth gap". Though he had praised the role of trade unions in society, and mentioned some prominent trades unionists by name, he had not brought one of them into his "Government of all the talents" - and had instead chosen members of the Tory Party, millionaire businessmen, CBI leaders.

Some delegates were given the job by mobile phone message from New Labour "floor managers" of leading a standing ovation. They did their best, but had to pretend that they'd just jumped to their feet to stretch their legs as the unenthusiastic applause quickly died away. Of course some Union leaders tried to put a gloss on this decidedly matt-finish speech in an attempt to maintain unity between TUC and New Labour. But the fact is that Congress went on to endorse a General Council statement and a widely supported motion that called for public sector union unity in a pay campaign this autumn and winter, which would be likely to include co-ordinated industrial action.

It’s simple and straightforward really. For teachers, we had a 2.5% multi-year pay deal imposed through an “independent” review body, covering the years 2005-2008. Inflation is runningat about 4%, with a peak of 4.8%. And they thought we might not notice that! Now they propose further pay cuts of 1.45%, 2% and another 2% over the next three years.

By the way, what does a Government do if inflation, measured by the RPI as it has been for many years, starts to rise beyond “target” and take the shine off Gordon? It’s a serious business, and needs a serious remedy – so they thought up a new index – the Consumer Price Index, which miraculously brought inflation down again. It’s our own version of the “Dodgy Dossier” but this time they sexed the facts down instead of up. It might have worked – except for the fact that the UK Government are probably the world’s best-known liars.

So that's alright then! But no they are very poor pickpockets - we felt them at it… we’ve spotted them – and we are shouting, “stop thief!” That’s the stage we’ve reached with this rally, and with others like it. Now the chase is on!

This is a battle no union worth its salt can ignore, and one in which all must combine. Wages are the most fundamental relationship between worker and employer, and the fight against low pay, and against exploitation generally is the most fundamental battleground. The desire by the employer to impose more work for less pay, and the desire of the worker for better conditions and more pay just will not go away – no matter what the “modernisers” would have us believe. This is a class divided society – there ARE sides, we are NOT all in the same boat. The more workers stick together, combine and resist, the weaker are the other side –and vice versa - it’s down to a question of unity and strength.

Now there are some – some in our own movement, and plenty more outside it - who say such union action is old fashioned and damaging to society, and it should be replaced with more “modern” approaches – pay “forums”, “social partnerships”, “independent” pay review bodies etc. It’s an illusion – or self-deception, which is even worse. And we teachers are best placed to point to the illusion, because we have been denied collective bargaining rights for some years now, and have had an “independent” pay review body imposed on us – the School Teachers’ Pay Review Body (STRB). The findings of this body have an uncanny similarity with the views of Government – but I suppose that is the right outcome – if you start from the premise that Government is always fair and just, and Unions just seek to hold the country to ransom.

But what’s this? Here’s a letter from Alan Johnson, temporarily Secretary of State for Education, writing to the “independent” review body with a set of instructions concerning a further pay imposition on us, this time for 2008 - 2011. Remember, the job of the Review body is to hear evidence from all sides including the Government, and then to make recommendations to the Government about what to do! But here’s Brother Johnson’s instruction to the Review body, just to set the rules for them.

“Your considerations should include the … need to make all recommendations affordable within a context of a requirement for responsibility in all public pay sector settlements and, with regard to wider Government pay policy, in particular you should continue to base pay settlements on the achievement of the inflation target of 2%…”

Once its been noted and understood that the Review Body’s job is to support “wider Government pay policy” and the Chancellor’s economic targets linked with pay… once that’s clearly established they can be as “independent” as they like… within those limits – about as independent as a castrated dog on a very tight lead… wearing a muzzle.

But every now and again, the dog slips its lead, even if by accident! When they imposed the 2.5% 2005 - 2008 “settlement” on us, they said that if inflation went up by more than 3.25%, they would seek another “remit” from the Government to reconsider teachers’ pay. So when inflation reached 4.8%, and worked out at 4% across the year, we wrote to the Review Body, reminding them of their promise, and that the Government had accepted that promise at the time. And they agreed… and wrote to Brother Johnson, who wrote back,

“The review mechanism you proposed…provided the basis on which you might seek a remit to review pay for the period in question. As you are aware, the mechanism as accepted, does not determine a particular course of action on receipt of any such request…. Having given careful consideration to your request, I have concluded that the best course would be for you to consider these concerns when making recommendations for the next pay award. So I will not be giving you a separate remit to review the current settlement.”

In other words, “Bad dog, get down, get back in your basket!”. The fact is that democracy and the protection of workers are not assured by behind closed door deals and binding agreement worked out in smoke-free rooms. They are won by strong and powerful trades unions combining together on matters of common concern. Which is why we are all hers tonight.

Bullying and coercion – by “leaning on” so-called independent bodies, and setting totally restrictive ground rules.

Dishonest and fraudulent scamming – by sexing down figures, and misrepresenting the real inflation position

Lying and dishonourable behaviour – by refusing a course of action previously promised by them

Let’s talk about standards for a minute – having established just how low it is possible to go in the world of the politicians and the employers.

We are for high standards of education, high standards of all public services. We are in fact for excellence. And the Government say that they are too.

So why is it that they defend every huge bonus, share option and massive salary increase for fat cat employers in the name of “excellence”, while at the same time promoting pay freezes and cuts for public sector workers, in order to “save money” in order to “meet the need for education funding to meet a range of priorities linked with school improvement”? The lie – just another one of a series – that the availability of funding is so limited that if teachers do not accept pay cuts, they will be undermining the funding of the education of the most vulnerable pupils. What a disgusting perversion of the truth!

Of course the pay issues facing workers and unions across the public sector will have nuances and emphases and differences that are complicated and complex. We will need to deal with them in our individual unions.

But our NUT National Conference debated the issues carefully and decided that we would adopt a very clear and simple position. No wage freeze, and no divisive regional pay…. and one united public sector pay campaign… a campaign that we all must be aware will include co-ordinated strike action.

We now have to campaign and argue amongst our own members not just the correctness of our case, and the duplicity and anti-worker attitude of the Government. It won’t be hard to find a ready response to the view that we teachers and all public sector workers are being badly treated – but we will have to convince our members that the struggle is worth it, and that we can win. We need to take the lessons of the pensions dispute, and our commitment to the organising culture in our unions, and build confidence and determination to fight. This is as much part of the pay campaign as is the strike action that will come from it – if we do it well enough. Neither one can be achieved without the other.

In taking this on, we are taking on a massive fight – and it’s not just us that will know that. The Government and employers will be just as aware of it. And they will throw everything at us if we see it through.

The Government hold public sector workers in contempt, as they do the services we deliver. They will say that we are putting ourselves first above the needs of those who use the service, that we will get fat on the basis of their deprivation.

They will say that some public sector workers are already very much more highly paid than the users of the service, that we have featherbedded, overprotected employment conditions.

They will say of teachers (again) that we finish work at 3.30pm every day and spent three months of the year sunning ourselves in our foreign holiday homes.

They will say that we public sector workers are selfish, complacent, holding the vulnerable to ransom in order to get “the country” to pay. They will say that we are not real workers – some being “middle class”, some pen-pushers, some bureaucrats and jobsworths.

So we need to use the fact that public sector workers are everywhere, and are directly in touch with “the public”. We need to build our own trade union unity first, but quickly to build a firmly based huge coalition of support from other workers, local people, community organisations – so that the distortions and smears that will come from employers, government and press do not find fertile ground. This too is as much part of the pay campaign as strike action.

They will say that Gordon Brown “deserves a chance” and that we will let the Tories in at the next election if we undermine him. There are many who would argue very convincingly that Gordon Brown has already has had his chance – and that he used it by either remaining silent on some issues, or by backing Blair’s agenda with varying degrees of enthusiasm. But the fact is - we are giving him a chance. Our action has not yet commenced. He knows what to do. If he chooses to reject our case and fight us, it will not be us undermining the Government – it will be the Government itself alienating itself further from the people.

If the Government is defeated on public sector pay – an absolutely central plank in their political platform - everything will be up for grabs. That’s why they will be so determined to defeat us, and why we need to have built an absolutely rock solid base for our action. We cannot foresee all the consequences of successful pay action – but we know now that we will have to continue to stick together to promote positive alternative policies to those that will emerge from Government – or from those that might replace them.

Of course there are consequences to this sort of mass campaign. It's true that most of the media will use it to promote the Tories' election chances. It's quite possible that a Tory Government elected following a co-ordinated public sector pay campaign would seek to ban all public sector industrial action. These are serious things indeed - and demand real consideration and determination from us. We would need to continue our public sector unity to deal with them - and we would find ourselves in very deep political waters - and we would need more than a bit of synchronised swimming to succeed.

But while it’s true that we cannot know the exact shape of the consequences of our campaign, I do know this… and I know it from my own experience, and the experience of many generations of teachers and other workers. No union can stand by and see the pay of its members undermined because of a fear of the consequences of a campaign. There comes a time when you have to take a stand, and when we know that the consequences of quiescence and defeatism are much worse than the consequences of honourable struggle and determination. This is such a time.

Fighting for public services…

Fighting for public sector pay