NASUWT only 42% voted

[bridgetjonesmassivepants]

Can't believe this. Apparently 90% of those who voted voted to strike but the union can't go ahead with strike action as a 50% threshold is needed.

Why wouldn't you vote? I can understand we will all have different views but if the current situation isn't enough to make you vote what is?

Do we now have to hope that the other unions will do better?

Rumour is NEU is doing better, but it is still really tight- estimating 54% turnout in my county, so hopefully will creep past.

I know the NEU have sent out a LOT of replacement ballots as people had the wrong address etc listed- a lot of people don't bother to update their union details (which is a bit of an issue btw when you are e.g. listed as working somewhere you don't, in theory a rep could be funny about representing you I think).

NEU had a big push last summer to ensure membership lists were up to date, too so they weren't sending ballots to people who no longer worked as teachers etc this September.

I don't know if NASUWT have been so organised. Obviously it's not solely their fault, part of it is apathy on the part of the membership, but I think if NEU cross the line (which I think is more likely) it will be in part due to the big effort they have put in to organising things, and recruiting people like ballot volunteers to help people sort out missing/lost ballots etc. Maybe I'm wrong and NASUWT have done as much as they could BUT it's not the impression I have.

I do think it's a shame people couldn't be bothered to return their ballots, even to vote No/No as now the union has no idea if the 58% who didn't vote feel strongly about not striking or are just apathetic, but equally they have a high percentage of members who they know do feel strongly, so as a union they are in a very difficult position.

Is it too late to join the NEU?

I never got my ballot despite repeated requests.

I never got a ballot paper l.

To request another one, it was a stupid click here link that created and email on my iPhone mail where as I use outlook and it was impossible to copy the addresses across.

I'm surprised it's 42%. Maybe they need to address their ancient IT systems and get an app! It's so fragmented and poorly administered I'm really not surprised.

Does NEU have an app?

I got my nasuwt ballot late, and posted it back as soon as I could but with the strikes at the post office, I do wonder if it got there….

If NEU gets the vote through then I will join them.

They never sent mine out. I sent two emails and even told my school rep but they never sent it out. Same happened to a colleague

I’m NEU and I didn’t receive a ballot (or any reminders to vote). When I phoned them I was told it was too late to resend a ballot. My address was correct.

I'm nasuwt as it was the majority union at my last school.I changed setting in September. I notified them in October of my change of address but even after emailing and calling have still not recieved a ballot. I rang 2 weeks ago to ask for an urgent ballot and got nothing.

I am now in a Psu setting and i'm happy to change to NEU. If I change now can I add to their mandate? I'm totally fucked off with the uselessness of NASWUT

NEU not NAS but my sense is that a lot of schools don’t have union reps these days. My school had nearly 100% turnout for my union but we have a rep, a lot of older teachers who have struck and seen the benefits and are also more likely to have a ‘united we stand’ outlook. I think perhaps some younger staff don’t view union membership as anything more than an insurance/legal safeguard - it’s the world they’ve grown up in. I was shocked at how many strike-breakers there were in the last NEU strike - no one of my generation would cross a picket line or break a strike. They would join a non-striking union instead , rather than have the gall to take the benefits of a militant union without honouring a strike-ballot . The postal strikes and IT/ ballot paper issues have also had an effect in my region. I’ve just received Christmas cards that were posted 11/12/22 so this must have affected the ballot-returns.

What? I’m really surprised. What’s the point in being in a union if we don’t support them? Surely that’s the whole point?

You received no texts or emails at all despite these details being correct? Because everyone else has had a lot.

NEU were sending replacement ballots until 16th December, but were told after this date they were unlikely to be received and get back in time.

Btw NEU results are on Monday so obviously no chance to vote if you join now. I would wait until after Monday to switch because I'm not sure if you would count as a non voting member if you switched today.

Fwiw, I'm relatively young, and I've been a union rep in previous settings. I do think it's important to have an active rep, but it is a really difficult and thankless job especially when people want things changed but aren't even willing to sign a letter! Let alone consider industrial action. I know a lot of it is fear, but the whole point of acting together is that we can't all be fired!

I think a lot of people (including older people) don't actually understand how unions affect change. If there is not the backing of members willing to withdraw their labour, the union is toothless.

Yes, my NEU colleague received lots of reminders. I wasn’t sure if my experience was common or not. I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed for the results on Monday!

I'm with nasuwt and never received a ballot. I'd have voted for strike action if I had.

I'm really annoyed with teachers that didn't vote and can't understand it. Teachers leaving the profession in droves. Schools unable to recruit staff. Teachers having to use food banks. I want my kids to have proper teachers and they won't have them if the dismantling of education carries on

Fuck knows what happened, a mix of apathy and admin balls-up?

I do wonder whether the government refusing to even meet with striking nurses (nurses! Of all people!) made some teachers think that it wasn't worth bothering as it wouldn't achieve anything.

I’m in a leadership position in a Trust in a very unionised area of the country. I meet with all union reps of our schools monthly as part of my role. The vast majority of staff are NEU rather NASUWT but when discussing the strike they tell me that majority of the staff in our Trust are not going to vote. (They are aware that not sending ballot back is the most likely way to stop a strike rather than a no vote.) They say that staff are not supportive of strike because it’s about pay which they either feels is ok or feel that even if it’s not ok, any pay rise will end up coming from existing funds and will therefore mean redundancies for their colleagues and less money for resources the children.

The problem as I see is it is that the issues that make teachers want to leave are pupil behaviour (often linked to utter collapse of social services and other community and youth services), parent behaviour (as above plus just utter shit parents who want the school to fix everything they’re unable or too lazy to fix) & workload & impossible expectation (usually linked to above plus SLT fear of ofsted which drives toxic behaviour) and the woeful provision for children with SEND. That’s what they want to strike about.

But apparently you can’t strike about these things ….I’m not sure why as it would seem to come under “conditions” to me but apparently that is what the union ‘on high’ have told them. 🤷‍♀️

Another point made was that they felt that if the govt did shift a bit and give a higher % pay rise it would just mean that these “real” issues as they see them (& I totally agree btw) would then be swept under the carpet with the rhetoric being that the higher pay now means that staff have to put up with this.

That’s just what has been discussed with to me but I thought it was interesting and probably more helpful than just accusing colleagues of being lazy /apathetic.

@Noname99 - I asked the union similar. Can’t we strike about abysmal SEN provision, about conditions for support staff, etc? Do we really have to use that whiney video about teachers’ pay? I was told we can only strike about pay, so this was the only way to open that dialogue.

I have heard SO many NASUWT colleagues that for whatever reason unbeknownst to them didn't receive their ballot paper despite chasing. I couldn't understand it - I received mine within days of the ballot opening!

What happens is NEU is successful and a strike goes ahead - can we strike with them if we're in a different union that didn't reach the threshold?! I've no idea how it works!

The NEU video message today said that they had to reissue 48,000 ballots that didn't reach their members.

That's nearly 10% of the membership.

If NAS had similar issues but were less successful at reissuing (particularly with the white/green ballot issue), that could have sunk the vote.

Were they using paper ballots?

Strike ballots have to be paper and postal.

Thank you. I knew they used to be when I was teaching. I was wondering how much the Royal Mail strike impacted on the practicality of these votes.