Our group aims to represent the views of all NEU members professionally and sensibly and to organise within our Union associations and at the Annual Conference. With sound organisation and planning, we aim to put forward progressive policies for our Union and win the debates and the votes needed to advance those policies. We implacably oppose political factions using our union for their political purposes. We firmly believe we are a professional association as well as a trade union. This means that whilst we aim to protect and advance our member’s pay, terms and conditions in the political arena, this has to be done in the context of our educational beliefs.
We believe that this stance represents the views of the majority of NEU members: the sometimes silent majority which believes in NEU values. We want to work with you to ensure coherent, sensible and achievable policies and strategies are pursued for the benefit of teachers, support staff, pupils and education.
Industrial action has a place within the Union’s armoury but has to be used as a threat with great care. We believe that calls for such action need careful management via surveys of members at appropriate times to make sure of support from the wider membership. Real support across the Union is required and not the posture and gesturing of vocal minority groups. This can never be a substitute for reasoned strategic thought about union policy and how best to further our causes.
As individual teachers and support staff, we are proud of our communication skills. The NEU Broad Left (Broadly Speaking) believe in harnessing the skills of teachers and support staff to persuade others, particularly parents, of the strength of our arguments. Together, we can: fight for teacher autonomy as in other successful educational jurisdictions such as Finland speak about teacher and support staff stress and its causes including workload and successful behaviour management rebuild support for state comprehensive education, using reason and experience to fight privatisation and proclaim every child’s right to be taught by qualified teachers, demand good local schools and smaller classes for all, not just the wealthy fulfilling our commitment to professional unity to reassert our professionalism, reinforcing public trust in our vocation.
Through the successful organisation of moderate, progressive and dynamic teachers and support staff, we can plan a way forward centred on respect, professionalism and trust, ensuring that the NEU remains the towering force for teachers, support staff and education, not the tool of outside minority political forces.
Teachers and support staff face many challenges in all aspects of the job and we need to have effective and meaningful representation, not just an ideological aspiration. Empty rhetoric will benefit no one; in fact, in many campaigns, it will do more harm than good.
Help us organise to regain control of our union with moderate, sensible and effective policy and strategy.
In today’s NEU, it means gaining strength in numbers and argument through avoiding the excesses of those who oppose us.
Get in touch and help us to achieve our goals.
Chair – Charlotte Lawrence
