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Building structures in the National Education Union
KEVIN COURTNEY looks ahead to how the new NEU will organise in order to grow as a lay-led democratic organisation

THE formation of the National Education Union, through the amalgamation of the NUT and ATL, is an important step towards achieving the professional unity of all education workers.

It is still the case that around 90 per cent of teachers belong to a trade union. The potential strength that teachers possess — if they are united — is therefore considerable.

While unity was always a strategic goal of the NUT, it is now vital to the very survival of teacher trade unionism. This is so because of two major changes driven through since the election of the coalition government in 2010, namely: the fragmentation of the education system; and the liberalisation of terms and conditions. These can be seen as consequences of what is known as the Global Education Reform Movement (Germ) that prioritises market mechanisms as a means to improve educational outcomes.

  • Kevin Courtney is general secretary of the NUT.
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