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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE





TUC black workers



Black teachers and pupils are being failed by a Coalition Government which ‘couldn’t spell racial equality if you gave them a dictionary”, the NASUWT has asserted.



The Union attacked the Coalition Government’s watering down of equalities law and its programme of cuts and reforms which have disproportionately hit black and minority ethnic (BME) communities.



Speaking at last month’s TUC Black Workers’ Conference, NASUWT delegate Michelle Codrington-Rogers [right] said the Coalition’s attacks on education were stifling aspiration and limiting young people’s life chances:



“We are in a battle for the future generations of our communities. Our young people are under attack by the Government who are using education as a bullet.



Teachers and educators are being used as cannon fodder to take away the key to the life chances our young people need,” she said.



These attacks are hitting black pupils and teachers particularly hard, she argued, pointing to findings from the NASUWT’s Big Question survey which showed that nearly two thirds of BME teachers are seriously considering leaving the profession. The Government’s attempts to dismantle and dilute equalities legislation were condemned by NASUWT delegate Ruth Duncan, who argued that ministers are effectively sanctioning employers to discriminate against their workers: “This Government’s gesture politics, as shown with their gay marriage announcement, are window dressing.”



The NASUWT fielded the second largest delegation and Ms Codrington-Rogers was successfully re-elected to the TUC Race Relations Committee.



(Photo of Michelle Codrington-Rogers)





TUC women workers



The assault on women’s right to live and work in equality and without fear or discrimination has been condemned by the NASUWT at this year’s TUC Women’s Conference.



National Executive Member (NEM) Kathy Duggan moved a motion on women’s employment rights, warning delegates that discrimination and bullying is likely to flourish unchecked in UK workplaces as a result of the Coalition Government’s attack on employment rights.



The NASUWT denounced the Coalition’s ‘cynical attempt to undermine UK equality law’ by scrapping statutory guidance setting out schools’ and colleges’ responsibilities under the new public sector equality duty. NEM Michelle Williams said: “The Government cannot scrap the Equality Act, but they can water it down and remove any accountability so that it lacks any real clout.”



Delegates showed support for the NASUWT’s Standing up for Standards campaign by unanimously backing a motion opposing the attacks on teachers’ pay, pensions, working conditions and job security.



NEM Kathy Wallis said: “It is clear that Gove’s education policies have nothing whatsoever to do with raising standards but with increasing the role of the free market.”





TUC young workers



(Photo of Suzanne Rule)



The Coalition Government risks alienating a generation of young people through its attacks on teachers and state education, the NASUWT has told the TUC Young Workers’ Conference.



Reforms to teacher training will deny many young people the opportunity to enter the profession and those already working as teachers are becoming increasingly disillusioned and demoralised as a result of the Government’s cuts and attacks on education, delegates have been told.



Suzanne Rule [below], NASUWT Young Activist of the Year, told the Conference that teachers are facing increasing attacks on their professional status and that NASUWT research has shown that as a result half of all teachers have considered leaving the profession



“With such deep levels of demoralisation, schools are on the brink of a crisis affecting recruitment and retention, which will in turn impact upon children’s education,” she said.



“The Government needs to recognise that teachers’ working conditions are inextricably linked to the quality of education of children and young people.



“All children and young people are entitled to be taught by highly skilled professionals who enjoy working conditions which enable them to teach effectively and raise standards for all. Standards of education are being put at risk by the Coalition Government as a result of their actions,” she said.





During the conferences the NASUWT moved motions on:



Standing up for Standards;

Public Sector Equality Duties;

Women’s employment rights;

Women and the Middle East.





Visit www.nasuwt.org.uk/EqualityOfficers

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