Education should not be left out

IT WOULD be a crying shame if the education unions were not involved in the joint strike action proposed for the end of March. The size and anger of a 250-strong teachers’ meeting on Wednesday of last week convinces me that there is the potential to build strikes in the NUT union. We can reach far into our unions with this campaign.

There was a depth beyond the “usual suspects” of left union activists at the meeting. Younger education workers, in particular, need to understand what a difference to their lives is being planned. I am confident older teachers will fight for younger colleagues. Whether or not education workers ballot this term, there is much we can do in the coming months. We need to get as many people as possible on the 18 February protests.

We need to actively support whatever strikes take place.

Above all, we need to get the education unions planning for strike action together. We should pass resolutions to that effect in our branches and at our forthcoming conferences. If we don’t strike in March, we can lead a second wave of pensions action after Easter.