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Teachers voice their fury at pension plans


Daniel White In Central London


The sense of injustice was plain to see in central London as the crowds gathered last Thursday, June 30, before the two-mile march to Westminster in protest over the government’s pension reforms. I mingled among people selling


whistles for a pound, groups chant- ing and beating drums, and protes- tors of all ages, but all passionate and united behind one cause. When told that a national news-


paper had nicknamed the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (Christine Blower) and the president (Nina Franklin) the “Scar-girls”, the crowd’s reaction set the tone for a day of passionate, yet peaceful demonstration. Talking to the protestors as


we marched, I sensed a feeling of strength. The numbers coming together were huge – 20,000 esti- mated in central London alone, all of whom wanted to show their unhappiness and make their feel- ings known to ministers who had taken part in the “sham” negotia- tions – a word I would hear often as the day wore on. Figures from the Department for


Education showed that more than 11,000 schools in England had been affected. Almost 6,000 had closed, with 5,200 only partially opening – although more than 4,000 had failed to report their circumstances mean- ing the true figures are likely to be higher. In Wales, more than half of schools, about 1,000, were affected. The Association of Teachers and


Lecturers (ATL) estimated later that 85 per cent of state schools and colleges in England and Wales had either partially or fully closed.


Back on the march, which left


Lincoln’s Inn Fields for Westminster at 11.40am, comments from the cabinet office minister Francis Maude that the strike was “totally irresponsible” sparked anger from the protestors. Education secretary Michael Gove didn’t escape either; his pronouncement that he was “disappointed” went down just as well as his idea last week that par- ents should volunteer to help keep schools open. More figures emerged during


the day to suggest that more than 67,000 people from all four of the striking unions had been on the organised rallies across England and Wales. As well as London, Manchester and Brighton saw 5,000 a piece, while 8,000 turned out in Birmingham and 4,000 in Newcastle. And many more were on picket


lines across the country – as many as 330,000 school and further edu- cation staff were eligible to strike. One such picket was manned


by the teachers of Virgo Fidelis Convent Senior School at their south London site. It had started at 8am and when I arrived the strikers were actively engaging with parents to explain why they felt they had no choice but to walk out. Carole Horsted, head of Spanish


and ATL Croydon branch secretary, told SecEd: “I am striking today because I have been cheated out of something that I have a right to. The government has treated me and the rest of the profession really poorly – I don’t think the government or the media and general public appreciate the job that we do.” English teacher Joe Flynn


added: “I have followed the nego- tiations closely and it has been a complete sham. I think there will almost certainly (be) more strikes,


Pensions: Why is the profession angry?


The pensions row has erupted because of a number of factors that have combined to hit the value of public sector pensions. Teachers are further incensed


because they agreed to a package of reforms in 2007 which were designed to make public sector pensions affordable in the long term. The changes in 2007 saw increased contributions and retire- ment ages and capped employers’ contributions. However, the coalition govern-


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ment brought in further changes last year and has since adopted the findings of Lord Hutton’s review of public sector pensions. The government’s plans include: • Linking the normal pension age to the state pension age, which is 65 but set to rise to 66 in 2020 and then to 68 (Hutton recommendation).


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• Scrapping the teachers’ final salary pension link and linking them instead to career average earnings (Hutton recommendation).


• Increasing employee


contributions by 50 per cent, from 6.4 to 9.6 per cent by 2014. This will be phased in from April 2012.


These proposals come on top of


a change to the inflation link for pub- lic sector pensions from the Retail Price Index to the lower Consumer Price Index, which will devalue pensions by up to 15 per cent. The switch was made by Parliament in March and has meant that instead of seeing pensions increase by 4.6 per cent this April, they increased by 3.1 per cent. In addition, teachers have been hit by the current two-year public sector pay freeze. Unions are further incensed at


talk of “gold-plated” public sec- tor pensions, pointing out that the average teacher’s pension is £12,000 a year.


What will an NQT pay?


According to figures from the ATL, an NQT starting work in three years’ time will earn £21,588 a year and would face the follow- ing deductions: • Tax: £2,273. • National Insurance: £1,522. • Student loan: £53 • Teachers’ pension with increased payments: £2,116 This leaves net pay of £15,624,


meaning they take home £1,302 a month – £111 less than they do currently.


especially with headteachers ballot- ing, that is a big sign that it is not working.” My next stop was Richmond-


upon-Thames College, where I ran into Dr Mary Bousted, the general secretary of the ATL, who was there to give her moral support. She told me that the strike was distressing but that they were left with no choice: “For many ATL members this has been the most distress- ing and difficult decision they have had to make in their careers. They never thought they would be taking national strike action and they are doing so because they understand the government has left them no choice.” Striking PE teacher Kate Ryder


added: “We want to be teaching, no-one wants to be on strike – but if you can’t be heard you have to do something. If nothing changes I can see this continuing – most teachers won’t be able to afford


the new increase so don’t have any other alternative.” Back in central London, the


idea that the negotiation process had been a “sham” resonated with many, while the plans to make teachers work until 68 provoked real anger. Ben, a PE teacher from


Hertfordshire, told me: “I work with 18-year-old boys as a PE teacher and I am able to teach them because I am young and can show them how to do things. Realistically, will a 68-year-old be able to relate to an 18-year-old, especially when speak- ing to them or showing them dem- onstrations?” David Binnie, a chemistry


teacher from Hertfordshire, added: “The government has treated us very poorly – we have been dictated to, no-one has listened to us.” Alan Duncan, a further educa-


tion lecturer from south London, told me: “I’m 55 and the pensions


are completely unfair and a breach of promise. The idea of teaching in five years is one thing but teaching in 13 years is quite another. It’s outright dictatorship.” To the back-beat of drums and


whistles, teachers were chanting, “2, 4, 6, 8, we won’t work till 68”. The whistling was constant and everywhere you looked there was an array of flags representing the different unions and with many slo- gans venting anger at government ministers and at how the coalition has handled its first year in office – “dictatorship” was one comment I heard more than once. As the rally came to an end at


Westminster Hall, and the unions’ chiefs prepared to speak (see below), there was a sense of achievement. The protest had been peaceful, pas- sionate and it was plain to see that teachers will not lie down over the government’s pensions plans. They will not be “dictated” to.


The unions take on the cabinet


More than 67,000 people across England and Wales attended rallies to protest against the government’s pensions proposals last Thursday, June 30. The rallies and strikes also led to


thousands of schools being partially closed or shut completely as the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) took industrial action alongside two other public sector unions. It is the biggest walkout by


teachers for a generation and the battlelines were clearly drawn for a showdown between the four strik- ing unions and government. Leading the fight for the unions


were the fierce and committed general secretaries of the ATL and NUT. They were up against an array of cabinet ministers, includ- ing education chief Michael Gove and minister for the cabinet office Francis Maude, who has been involved in the negotiations. For the government, Mr Maude


made the first foray on strike day, appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and describing the strikes as “totally irresponsible”. Later that day, Mr Gove labelled the strikes “disappointing”. It was clear that ministers had


been briefed and the message was to criticise the unions for walking out while talks are on-going. Dr Mary Bousted, the ATL’s


2


general secretary, fired the first volley for the unions while speak- ing to SecEd on the picket line at Richmond-upon-Thames College in London. She said: “(The gov- ernment) has refused to negotiate properly, it has refused to give us basic information, such as infor- mation on how much it should spend on public sector pensions. They have refused to do a valu- ation of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.” Dr Bousted warned that they


cannot negotiate with a government which she labelled “inept, incompe- tent and unprofessional”. She continued: “In the end there


will have to be a negotiated settle- ment. This strike has been used as a weapon of last resort to show the government that they can’t walk all over us and will have to negotiate. “We hope that (today) will be


enough. If the government is seri- ous about children’s education as it says it is, surely it now has to nego- tiate properly and not engage in sham negotiations which is what’s been going on so far.” Later that day, Dr Bousted


joined her NUT counterpart, Christine Blower, on the stage at Westminster Hall, the final desti- nation of the London rally. They spoke alongside representatives from the University and College Union and Public and Commercial Services Union, the two other strik-


ing unions. On stage, Ms Blower also lambasted the negotiations that have been on-going with the gov- ernment. She said: “All of the discus-


sions are about how to implement the changes, not about whether we need these pensions (reforms) at all. So the basic ‘pay more, work longer, get less’ is exactly what the government intended and it isn’t right to call these negotiations. That is why we are today launching the campaign for fair pensions for all.” Mr Gove issued a formal state-


ment during the afternoon of the strikes, labelling the action “unnec- essary”. However, with two more negotiation meetings planned this month, he also said that the govern- ment remained committed to dis- cussing pension reforms. He added: “I know that many


teachers are concerned about the changes that have been proposed to their pensions. But I believe that we must resolve these differences through negotiation and that the action today, while discussions are still going on, is disappointing and unnecessary. “I am grateful to headteachers


and governors who have worked hard to keep schools open. And I am particularly grateful to all those school staff who – while they may also have concerns about pensions – have decided to go into work today.”


SecEd • July 7 2011


Pensions fight: ATL chief Dr Mary Bousted on the picket line at Richmond- upon-Thames College


Photo: Lucie Carlier


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