Category: Coronavirus

Schools: ‘We have to fight for everything’

The National Education Union (NEU) forced another massive government U-turn in January – delaying the unsafe full reopening of schools. But the fight over safety, workload, pay and jobs is not over.

Schools: Act together to oppose unsafe numbers and rising workload

We can’t let government failures be used to browbeat us into accepting unsafe working conditions. Unless we remain firm, infections and deaths will continue to rise.

U-turn won – but battle in schools is far from over

We can be proud that we have helped to push the government back but the battle in schools is still far from over. We have to make sure that schools operate safely for the priority learners they will be teaching face-to-face and that staff are able to resist unacceptable workload demands …

Action wins Tory U-turn on school safety

The last few days have seen a monumental battle between members of the biggest education union, the National Education Union (NEU) – and the Tory government. Boris Johnson has yet again been forced into a massive U-turn.

‘A great start’ – ‘the union has come out fighting’

Local Officers, reps and members have been working flat out since the call was made by the NEU that they should assert their contractual right not to attend an unsafe place of work.

Organise a mass refusal to attend unsafe schools on Monday

NEU Executive announces emergency decision to call on members to exercise ‘Section 44’

Win regular mass testing for children and staff in every area

Ministers still can’t bring themselves to admit to what is now surely blindingly obvious. If school-aged children are so widely infected, insisting that parents send them in to classes of thirty in badly-ventilated classrooms inevitably means that schools will be acting as a significant driver of wider community transmission.

NEU Executive votes down call for union-wide ballot

Simply concluding that ‘there’s no mood’ leaves us exactly where we are now. Our demands will continue to be ignored. The NEU needs to build and lead struggle as a National Union

Time to Ballot for Industrial Action

A lockdown that doesn’t include schools? This time, we can’t let them ignore us, this time we need to ballot for union-wide action.

Escalation to higher tier requires escalation to strike ballot

The “Covid consensus” is finally starting to crumble. At last some opposition politicians are starting to speak out clearly about the woeful failure of the Tory Government to control the spread of the virus. But words alone can be ignored. So now it’s time for the NEU to back up words with action and call strike ballots in the worst affected areas.