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The NEU shows what a fighting union looks like

When teaching trade unionists realised that the government was ignoring the advice of its own scientific advisers, they stepped up to defend pupils, staff and communities, says ROBERT POOLE

THE latest U-turn — I’ve lost track of how many we’ve had now — sees primary schools switching to remote learning. 

This dramatic about-face comes only a day after the government refused to heed the calls of scientific advisers, doctors and teachers. 

This victory should be laid at the feet of brave National Education Union trade unionists who made the decision to refuse to attend unsafe workplaces on Monday morning.

Teachers and support staff up and down the country invoked their individual right to protect themselves, their families and the NHS. 

This can’t have been an easy decision, especially as it had to be made as an individual rather than collectively as is the case with strike action. 

This was, though, the correct decision and one that only needed to be made only due to the government’s chaotic handling of the situation. 

Bringing all pupils back into classrooms when the rate of infection is so high was a reckless decision. 

Even though the Prime Minister went on the Andrew Marr Show to order parents to send their children to primary school in England (except London of course), reiterating that it was safe to do so, schools very clearly were not safe. 

When you look at the statistics, it is obvious that schools are the engine of disease transmission, and Johnson finally admitted this in his announcement on Monday night, saying that schools were “vectors of transmission.”

Schools are not safe, they never were and until we have a vaccine they cannot be.

It is also almost impossible for the government to make this claim as the Department for Education has admitted that it “does not hold information related to the number of deaths as a result of Covid-19.” 

In fact I sent a question months ago asking what its predictions were and received a response that it did not hold any information on this. 

So it has not only not modelled the disease but also not collected any data it would seem.

Thankfully children still seem to be less affected than adults, but we must remember that schools also have teachers and support staff in them and that pupils can also take the virus home with them. 

The question is what damage did the government do with it’s dither and delay? 

Three million primary schoolchildren were ordered back to school on Monday. 

That is three million little vectors mixing with numerous households before returning home.

When trade unionists realised that the government was ignoring the advice of its own scientific advisers, they stepped up. 

Rosa Luxemburg is quoted as having said that “the most revolutionary thing one can do is always to proclaim loudly what is happening.” 

And that is what the National Education Union did with a mass meeting online viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, suggested to be the largest union meeting ever.

The NEU proclaimed to the country that the government was ignoring its own advisers and putting the nation at risk and if the government wasn’t going to do anything then it would have to. 

The place I want to be right now is in my classroom with my pupils. I don’t know any teacher who relishes the thought of a full day of Zoom lessons. 

We should not have been forced into this situation. We must not rest on our laurels but think now about the challenges going forward. 

We can be certain that we will need the collective pressure of trade unionists across the country to ensure that the working class does not lose out. 

That’s why the NEU has put forward a 10-point recovery plan to ensure this doesn’t happen. 

Among other things, the government has said that GCSE and A-level exams will not go ahead. 

We must ensure that pupils receive a fair grade and there is not a repeat of the debacle of last summer. 

The government has also said it will provide more laptops to pupils. We must ensure that every pupil can access remote learning. 

We must also ensure that free school meals will be given to pupils who qualify. 

The NEU’s proposals are far reaching. These are ambitious suggestions which will require significant investment if we are to meet the challenges of an uncertain future.

The union added 16,000 new members over the past few weeks, 6,000 of them this weekend alone. 

Hundreds of members have expressed interest in becoming reps. By looking closely now at how well different districts, branches and workplaces organised will be invaluable in the coming period. 

Our current situation should be seen as a stress test. An opportunity to find strengths and weaknesses and plan for our next struggle. 

This is what a fighting union looks like and it is about time. 

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