Is the walkout being voted on?

[Biscuitsareessential]

Just that really I have heard about the NEU organising this walkout but will it be voted on by their members?
Yabu yes it will
Yanbu no it won’t

Nobody has asked us to vote. It is highly unlikely that we will be asked anything, never have been in over 29 years of teaching. We do not get a choice about what the union is discussing/deciding.

@Cherrysoup

Nobody has asked us to vote. It is highly unlikely that we will be asked anything, never have been in over 29 years of teaching. We do not get a choice about what the union is discussing/deciding.

Surely unions should be beholden to the wishes of its members?

It's not a voting matter. Unions can advise teachers of their right to workplace safety and then, if individual teachers choose to exercise their right not to be in an unsafe workplace, support them.

It’s not a thing that needs to be voted on. It’s an option for members of the NEU.

Not all members of the union will choose to do it, but the union supports them, if they decide to.

Not all teachers are NEU.

There has been no vote therefore no walkout! The teaching unions do not listen to their members and are responsible for fuelling simplistic teacher bashing headlines favoured by the gutter

It's not a strike - it is all covered under section 44 and does not therefore require a vote. Teachers (anyone) can do this if their health and safety are at risk.

Gutter press!!

Why didn’t CEV teachers exercise this right months ago?

If you are a teacher and you feel that you have no voice in your union you can leave and join another - there are several - or you can get involved yourself by attending meetings or volunteering to be school rep. If you have been teaching for 29 years you almost certainly have been asked to vote in a strike action as there was a one day strike by almost all public sector unions a few years ago.

@Biscuitsareessential

Why didn’t CEV teachers exercise this right months ago?

I haven't followed it closely but I think the argument would be that the evidence around the new strain changes the picture and that while CEV teachers have been safe in school previously, we don't have enough information to be sure it is safe currently - for anyone.

ECV teachers in Tier 4 should be shielding now. CV or anyone with a CEV or CV household member is due back in on Monday.

@singsingbluesilver both the main unions are rubbish. Sadly I can’t afford alternative forms of legal representation should I need it.... so I have no option.

CEV teachers worked from home like CEV staff in other jobs. In my school, the CRV staff provided work via Google Classroom, made welfare calls and marked work from home. I expect they will do the same again this time.

The reason why this action is more likely to happen now is that the Head Teachers union have advised members to support any teachers who do invoke section 44.

@PaxMalmKallax

There has been no vote therefore no walkout! The teaching unions do not listen to their members and are responsible for fuelling simplistic teacher bashing headlines favoured by the gutter

Wrong. It's a walkout, not a strike, under Section 44 of the Employment Right Act. It isn't school-specific.

The union is its members. If you don't like what they are doing then do something about it. People who claim to know nothing about what their union are doing can do something about that - read the emails they send you, or the info your school rep puts on the notice board, or look on their website.

I hope for the good of the whole country that teachers stand up for their right to a safe workplace. The fact that they have been put in a situation which requires them to do so is indefensible.

And no, I’m not a teacher. Or a parent whom it affects one way or the other.
Just a member of the public who wants this hell to be over with and a health service not brought to its knees for any longer.

It's not a walkout, union members will still be working but will be using Health and safety legislation to limit the work they are prepared to undertake. For the NEU this means they have been advised if they feel it is not safe to teach full classes under the current circumstances, they can teach from home or teach keyworker and vulnerable children from school.

I know what my union are doing - they email and write to me and hold meetings. They’ve been a massive let down throughout this whole pandemic. And the various press statements have definitely fuelled the tabloid teacher bashers.

A walkout without a vote of members would be illegal.

No longer a teacher but so pleased they are doing this at last. Primary schools n Tier 4 areas are unsafe workplaces at the current levels of infection.

9 months into this pandemic, the government has failed to consider any number of sensible options to make them safer, and in the summer actually forbade schools from putting in place sensible rota systems that would have enabled children of all age groups to have some time in school.

They want villains, they don’t understand how schools work, and they don’t understand how normal working families manage childcare.

The DFE is either utterly unfit for purpose or is deliberately picking fights. Or both.

Again - it's not a strike so nothing illegal about it. Perfectly legal to walkout under section 44 and it is also being supported by HT unions. It is very, very likely to happen.

There is nothing illegal about refusing to attend an unsafe workplace. The NEU want teachers to continue to work, but with vastly fewer children physically in school and the majority having remote learning. All of which is even harder work than normal all in class teaching.

It's not being voted on as such. The NEU have advised their members that primary schools are not a safe workplace at the moment and so have said that teachers and School Staff have the right to to refuse to work in unsafe conditions. As teachers we (majority of teachers are NEU union members) are writing to our headteacher to inform her that we will not be working in these conditions. If head teachers have insufficient staff to be able to open school they will will be forced to close by default.
So although it isn't a vote its very much dependent on numbers. Head teachers are generally supporting this action and are in agreement.
What I expect will happen as a result is that the school will be closed to the majority of families and it will only remain open for the children of key workers and vulnerable children, improving the safety of the school environment while covid cases are peaking.
It's a shame we have had to come to this in order to achieve a safe working environment.

Its starting to really drive me mad the way people - presumably adults - don't understand anything.

It isn't a strike. They have asked the government for info about safety in schools. If the government can't demonstrate schools are safe, they are entitled to not go into an unsafe work force. This is hardly a radical idea.

People really should try to grasp the basics.