Executive NEUs December 2023

GS Report

Daniel Kebede began his report by commenting on the number of fronts on which we’re fighting:

Education Funding and Pay Campaign

• Joint Union letter sent on 9.11.23 sent to the Chancellor calling for an extra £1.7 billion into the education/school budget; and an extra £4.4bn for school buildings; and £4.6bn for SEND funding;
• Not a penny for education in the announcement
• Increase in Living Wage of 9.8% translates to support staff pay increase of 7.3%
• Will further squeeze budgets – even before we factor in teachers’ pay increases, there’s a £500m school funding shortfall; from 2025 to 2029, the OBR project funding decline by 1.2% per year in real terms
• Not yet ballot-ready to launch a national ballot – opening rate of member weekly update has fallen from 45-55% to 20-30%; fewer than 2k reps have held a meeting to discuss pay implementation (more detail on ballot plans under Urgent reports below)

Minimum Service Levels

• Top secret talks with SoS about reaching a voluntary agreement on MSLs; never intended to agree voluntarily to surrender our members’ right to strike; presented with draconian proposals to allow 74% of pupils in school; all primary pupils; every child in exam year or with EHCP/SEN support; every child on FSM and eligible for pupil premium
• Talks abruptly aborted by No.10 (and announced via the Sun Newspaper)
• Special TUC Congress on 9 December and Joint Union meeting on 14 December

Support staff

• initial meeting with Unite, GMB and UNISON about reforming the current arrangement
• GS clear that the status quo cannot continue, and we need see some meaningful movement
• All subject to Executive approval

Industrial strategy and member engagement

49 trade disputes since the beginning of term; Ten of these are TPS disputes in the independent sector; several over threatened redundancies, including 11 primary schools in Brighton and Hove; Teacher members in Northern Ireland took action on 29 November.  The Workload taskforce to report before Christmas with some victories for the Union’s action.  Successful launch of Beyond Ofsted report and gave evidence to the Education Select Committee on Ofsted at which there was clear cross-party support for change.  

The Executive also endorsed all Strategy Committee reports from October and agreed:

• The Early Career Teacher Strategy (US 8/021223)
• Consultation on allocation of places/childcare at Equality Conferences with OF/districts;
• Up to 8 delegates to Labor Notes, Chicago with funding from International Budget (max £20k)
• Finance report – adverse variance of £129,605 due to some spending being front-loaded; agreed distribution of funds from National Strike Fund to districts; noted 179 district returns (of 217);
• Following tender exercise, Civica to be re-engaged for ballots/elections with limited contract with UK Engage
• To ratify the decision of the Officers to offer £850k for new SE Office in Three Bridges
• Adopted revised Executive Standing Orders for in-person and virtual meetings
• Rule changes to Annual Conference (GPC 9b/021223)
• To donate £2.5k to Keep NHS Public; £6k to Hazards campaign and £100k to Hope not Hate from the Political Fund; and £10k to both the NEU/Save the Children and EI urgent fund for Palestine
• Motion to TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference on the social model of disability
• Annual Conference motion on AI in Education
• That a draft General Election strategy plan be brought to the January Executive
• That the Union support the workplace day of action on 7 December on solidarity with Palestine and that the Union to issue swiftly further practical advice about Prevent referrals for members

Funding and pay campaign

• a staged pay and funding campaign with roadmap circulated to all local secretaries during w/c 4 December and an all-officer zoom with GS before Christmas; Reps briefings open to all activists to be held between 22 January and 2 February to build for the February indicative ballot with reps asked to hold member meetings to be held between 19th February and 1st March
• That a report on Phase 1 activities and stress test outcomes is prepared for the January Executive to inform further discussion and decision regarding Phase 2 plans
• That further work is undertaken, including discussion with sister unions, to prepare the scope and definition of a support staff ballot and ballot options in Wales and sixth forms

Minimum Service Levels

1. A preference for “high level” union responses to the Government consultation; specifically not encouraging responses from the mass of our members;
2. Guidance to specific sectors such as our leaders, Districts and Branches;
3. Appropriate Bulletins and articles in Educate;
4. Continuing the joint work with other unions , particularly now education unions;
5. Working with sympathetic employers;
6. Maintaining the option of possible judicial proceedings against anticipated regulations given their severity and disproportionate nature;
7. Having this issue as an important part of our anticipated 2024 General Election campaign.
8. The NEU should demand of all employers, but especially Labour authorities, that, like the Scottish government, they refuse to cooperate and refuse to issue work notices.
9. The NEU must call on the TUC to implement the decisions it made at its September congress in full – including a mass trade union demonstration and 100% support for any union attacked – and should encourage NEU members to lobby the TUC Special Congress on 9 December to that effect.
10. The NEU must demand that a Starmer-led government does not implement, and instead repeals, the MSL legislation – along with the other anti-trade union legislation. In the meantime, we should call on Starmer to pledge to underwrite any fines levied on unions this side of a general election.
11. The NEU should make it clear to all members that any school group taking action will receive the full backing of the union in resisting MSLs and opposing any victimisation.
12. Should the union receive a work notice, it should call an emergency Executive to plan next steps to defend our right to take industrial action without government and employer interference.
13. To instruct the staff to bring a discussion paper to the January Member Defence Committee that explores possibilities for individuals, school level and union wide non-compliance.