No to a ‘pause’: stop the sell-out
In a shocking move, the General Secretary, Jo Grady, has announced that our strike action for the next two weeks has been ‘paused’ in the interests of pursuing negotiations and ‘creating a period of calm’.
This is an absolute outrage.
It is a tactical mistake of the highest order to call action off in order to pursue negotiations. As other unions have learned to their cost recently, It lifts all the pressure off the employers and encourages them to backtrack on anything they may have offered. The only reason there are negotiations at all is because of our action.
In any case, the joint union statement makes it clear that nothing concrete has been offered on any part of our claim, least of all pay. ‘Refreshing’ the pay spine is not a commitment to more money and the removal of the bottom point does not benefit any UCU members.
But the most outrageous aspect is that this decision has been taken behind the backs of members. There has been no consultation with the people who have stood on picket lines for nine days already this academic year, or with the branches involved in the dispute. The decision has bypassed the elected negotiators and the Higher Education Committee elected to control our disputes.
UCU is not the personal property of the General Secretary – it is OUR union.
This is another #NoCapitulation moment. But this time it’s even worse. Even Sally Hunt did not call off action unilaterally but took it to a meeting of branch delegates. Last time, Jo Grady was on the side of members against the sell-out.
No capitulation, No ‘pause’ without a deal approved by members. Organising the fightback
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Already the backsliding begins. ITV news is reporting that the Government has changed one point in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. They have accepted that academies will retain their ‘freedom’ to set their own pay scales for teachers. So the criteria in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions document will only apply to teachers in Local Authority schools. Why have the Government climbed down on this issue? It’s not as if this is a major financial problem for academies. But what will be the next change/climb down by the Government? Will academies be exempt from the National Curriculum? Will Local Authorities be able to build schools according to the needs of their communities or will all new schools, as at present, have to be academies?