On 5 March a post appeared on the NEU facebook page, above a photograph of significant numbers of union members holding posters advertising 28M. The wording read ‘ The voices of division in our country are growing louder. Its up to us to unite against them. Join us in London on 28 March for the Together against the Far Right national demonstration. Save the date and sign up for updates togetheralliance.org.uk  #Together’

Nothing wrong with what it did say. But something occurred to me. It seemed to be addressed to the already convinced rather than to the union membership as a whole. Nothing about the record of the far right in attacking trade unions or public services – leaving the field open to those who might well respond ‘whats this got to do with this union’ – a question that indeed was asked several times.

In response to an earlier question about who the far right are i wrote a substantial post setting out a number of themes – attacks on migrants, women and LGBT people in the workplace and the demonization of working class people in TV peogrammes like Benefit Street. I talked about how they divert anger against the capitalist class who own the means of production and often don’t pay taxes onto disabled people migrants and people who despite being in (low paid) work have to claim benefits to survive.

I argued that Brexit was intended to reduce working class living standards and erase our human rights. I pointed out that they wanted two tier education – one sort for those ‘who deserve it’ who can have well funded and staffed places of learning – and one for the ‘serfs’ – who just need to do as they are told. As an educator I was speaking to other educators – many of whom have the same commitment to the work they do in supporting learners as i do.

Finally i wrote about their opposition to trade unions and particularly to industrial action as well as their dangerous trivialisation of health and safety laws – fought for by trade unions to protect us at work and more generally.

I was happy as a union member – indeed as a union representative in my school and an officer of my NEU branch – to write all this but at the same time I was frustrated that those who put the initial post up were not engaging with the responses. I know those views aren’t  those  of union members in my school – six of us will be marching on Saturday

. And i don’t have proof that those who expressed reactionary views are actually educators and or NEU members. But I know from talking to other people  – other teachers, other workers in different places, other trade union activists, that support for divisive ideas exists in many places. And even if i didn’t it would be obvious from the numbers of those who voted Reform in recent elections and seem likely to do so on 7 May – not to mention those who marched alongside Stephen Yaxley- Lennon (otherwise known as Tommy Robinson). So while Im happy to be marching on Saturday along with others from my workplace , real work will need to be done in our workplaces, in our unions and in our communities to challenge division on Monday and all the days afterwards.