Pensions Dispute: Watch this space –
If you have been
watching the news lately you will know that the NUT has not agreed to the
Government’s latest pension proposals.
As soon as we know locally what the national strategy is to be we will
publish it here and email members. Local
secretary Brian Swinton will attend the forum at HQ on Thursday 2nd
February and our area National Exec member reported on the pensions
campaign at our AGM on 28th January.
All of this will be reported here and in the next newsletter.
From the AGM
Our AGM on January
28th in Beverley saw the installation of our new local President,
Cottingham High School Rep, Carolyn Stroud. There was also the announcement of the
expanded officer group that we believe will enable us to continue to provide an
excellent service to all members. Click here for details of
the team and all your necessary contact details.
November 30th strike day!
Once again a
resounding success in both the East Riding and Hull! Several of our larger schools held picket
lines and large numbers of East Riding schools were closed. Once more we held a big rally in Hull at the
Mercure Royal Hotel that this time included speakers from NAHT and NASUWT. We had obtained a bigger room this time but
once more there was standing room only for hundreds of members after the 200+
seats were filled. Hull NUT secretary
Mike Whale chaired the meeting, our area Exec member Ken Rustidge
spoke and East Riding Secretary, Brian Swinton sang 2 songs, The Poor Old Teacher
and Robbing All Our Pensions
with a really rousing response from all the members there. Virtually all the members there then walked
down into Queen Victoria Square to join the TUC organised mass rally where
successive speakers highlighted the similar plights of Firemen, Nurses, Civil
Servants, LA Officers etc. There was extensive, positive media coverage
from Calendar, Look North, BBC Radio Humberside –
where a half hour radio debate took place whilst most members were
marching. Our points were well made with
a special mention for Young Teacher Emma Hardy for all her excellent TV
work. If anyone has photos or videos of
the event especially the songs could you please email them to brian.swinton@eastridingnut.org
.
Members from our area lobbied MPs on October
26th
Several of our
lobbyists have passed on news from the lobby including sympathetic, productive
meetings with Alan Johnson. Other
experiences will be posted here as lobbyists pass on details.
Signs of movement from Government on
Pensions
The Government
announcement on Wednesday November 2nd contained welcome news of
protection for all members already 50.
The rest is nowhere near as positive as Government spin would have us
believe. Our National Executive and
specialists are looking at the detailed proposals. It seems inevitable that we will need to
strike, with all teachers and thousands of other public sector workers on
November 30th. Our action of
last June is responsible for progress to date; we now need to follow it
through. Look at our national website for further
detail and analysis. Please make sure at
least one member from your school attends the meeting on November 12th
in Beverley for details of the strike.
Our latest newsletter should
already be with you. If you missed it review it here.
Our next meeting will be the AGM on January
28th in the Tiger Inn, Lairgate Beverley from 10am
We will be
inviting nomination for officers and delegates prior to the AGM via the next
newsletter. Nominations should be with
the Secretary before midnight on December 31st. Please call 01482 448653 or brian.swinton@eastridingnut.org
if you would like to discuss a more active role in the Association.
What a success! June 30th
Day of Strike Action and Rally.
If you would like
to see pictures
of the strike rally in Hull please click
here for pictures in chronological order
from setting up the room via refreshments, speakers, songs and the march.
Once again congratulations
are in order for our association members.
The strike turnout was fantastic with about half the schools closure of
some kind and some that never told the LA what they were doing. Our membership locally and nationally has
increased substantially as a direct result of our stance over the Pensions
issue. You are a member of the largest teachers’ union, a union continuing to
grow, a union resolutely prepared to stand up for our rights. Our union includes Head Teachers and I am
pleased to report that our Head Teacher members joined us in striking on
Thursday and at the rally.
For more detail of the strike day and
other news click on our end of term newsletter
Rally
The morning of June
30th was a resounding success.
Together with Hull members and a few members of ATL, UCU and PCS the
room booked at the Royal Hotel was rapidly filled to overflowing. There were literally hundreds of members standing
and hundreds trying to get in. This is
no exaggeration. The mood of the rally
was buoyant including speeches and two songs that were all exuberantly
received. Speakers included a Unison
representative pledging their cooperation and support if we all need to take
further action. After the meeting we all
crossed the road to the Cenotaph and over a thousand members marched together
through the pedestrianised area
of Hull
All we seek are reasonable, meaningful
negotiations about our pensions and an independent, fair valuation of the
scheme.
We Were There! March for the Alternative
A small but perfectly formed
group of East Riding Association members left Hull at 5:30am with
colleagues from Hull NUT and UCU.
The picture shows where we joined the march after crossing Westminster
Bridge from the South. We were
funnelled in behind a large group of Unison members. The atmosphere was amazing!
