Executive NEU’s March 5th 2022

Committee Meeting Reports

Union Strength Committee- Liz McLean

1. Motions for Conference:

39- Representation of support staff- agreed to amend because of TUC recognition

• Working Party for VEVE

Nominations for the working party for the Pay Campaign – three members taken from US. Discussion about ensuring that as much of the country represented on the group as is possible.

Liz was elected to the group to ensure that Wales has a voice.

• National Training Programme

Aligning training with VEVE                   New Activists                                 Overreaching

• New Secs                                      Organising for Power                   Staff training
• Rep members                              Women’s dev. (Durham)             Sharpening org
• H&S                                               Summer school (London)                               
• Equalities
• Organising bitesize
• Supply Officer
• Review of reps training
• Review of officer “     “

• Feedback / key differences between other strike actions:
• Size of workplaces/ number of workplaces.  Educational establishments more fragmented. Discussed the importance of social media during campaigning.
• REPS- were the successful Districts ones where there are more active & engaged reps, where reps are given the power i.e., enabled to do casework
• Marginal wins- sending positive messages back to reps & members

Member Defence Committee- Mairead Canavan

1. Motions for Conference

Motion 38- Defending reps in the workplace- agreed to amend.

Asked the Conference Committee to consider the figures for accuracy.

Black Educators Motion- amendment suggested would have added some material on the work carried out by the union on equality casework issue. The amendment was considered but rejected.

• Equal Pay Claim

Discussed an Equal Pay Claim against Birmingham City Council, looked at setting a date in which members could receive advice and support with regards to their compensation claim. The date decided entitles 113 members to receive advice and support.

Bargaining & Negotiations Committee- Hannah O’Neill

Hannah was unable to attend this meeting, so no update given.

Joint General Secretaries Report

Mary Bousted reported on the following:

Pay

• In England there will be real outrage from members about the two-tier nature of the Government’s proposed pay award with the potential to drive a wedge between ECTs and more experienced teachers
• Scant recognition for the unstinting work of leaders and experienced teachers under the pandemic in keeping schools open and supporting all pupils – a sense of unfairness will be acutely felt
• Maximise member engagement – district and branches to organise meetings before Conference to discuss their survey results
• The TUC demonstration called for 19 March (Conservative Spring Conference) in Blackpool will provide a mobilisation for members in the Northwest

Feedback from Strategy Committees

• Consensus from members on key points:

EIS benefit from their coverage/PU in Scotland and their focus on pay over 2-year period

Organising activity key – building and equipping reps/teams of reps in our schools; skilling up members and reps; mapping of workplaces and data cleansing

Branches need to devise their own plans – no ‘one size fits all’ – priority activity before Conference

Girls’ Day School Trust – TPS dispute

• Into the third week of strike action and the strike is solid across 22 schools; JGS zoom calls last week attracting 800/1000 members.
• Now pivoting to parents to counter inaccurate propaganda from the Trust management with JGSs and DGSs all due to attend parents’ meetings over the next week.
• Have coalesced around 8 key demands (agreed with reps and members) and the Trust management has agreed to talks with ACAS – action suspended for w/c 7 March

Full Executive Meeting

The Executive agreed all Strategy Committee reports from the meetings on 20 January and agreed the following urgent decisions:

• Executive amendments to the following prioritised motions; Building back better demands an inclusive curriculum for all; Save vocational education; value vocational educators; Defending Reps in the workplace; A National Contract for Education; and Representation of Support Staff (39)
• ratified our submissions to the STRB and Wales PRB and had a preliminary discussion about our response to the government’s STRB evidence
• the Year End Accounts and the AR21; main difference from previous draft was a deferred tax liability of £3.896 million; a significantly higher figure than last year due to gains in assets including investments.
• amended Local Finance Regulations
• Staffing changes to HR and the Finance team; these changes will see only a small increase in the staff costs but will ensure the Finance Team can provide a comprehensive service to all parts of the Union including local treasurers.
• revised offer to the staff unions to settle the pay dispute
• Conference Committee had concluded that Annual Conference 2022 should be in-person and with people only able to attend virtually in very limited circumstances, to avoid a two-tier Conference.  The recommendation to hold the 2022 Annual Conference in-person was approved by Executive on 21 July 2021.
• Funding decisions; £75,000 to SUTR (£25,000 from the Political Fund); £5,000 to the People’s Assembly rallies against cost of living crisis and £76,000 to Hope not Hate (from the Political Fund).
• the introduction of the ‘application for branch status pro forma’ to be used for all future submissions to become a branch. 
• Composition of the delegation to Labor (sic) Notes Conference, Chicago with funding from the International Budget up to £12,000;
• Bilateral Engagement with AFT with costs of up to £25,000 to be met fromInternational budget
• Denise Henry was elected as a delegate to the TUC LGBT+ Conference
• A Resolution on Solidarity with the people of Ukraine