Thank you, Dave!

I taught in east London through most of the 70s and was active in what was the most militant local NUT branch at the time (I've mentioned before that Blair Peach was my union buddy at the time). We militant types were constantly harassed by both the
London and the national NUT leadership to drop our calls for action and accept their brand of "unity." That meant letting things go, never calling for action, getting permission from the top, etc. and being castigated for stepping out of their drawn line. We stood on picket lines for school cleaners, hospital workers and the fire brigade at six in the morning in the freezing cold before going to work. We were organised sufficiently in schools to ensure that the headteachers never got a bit beyond themselves (and that often resulted in greater harmony). We were DOING STUFF, not sitting around passing pointless resolutions or moaning in staff rooms. Unfortunately, those are the things that the Union has been doing ever since Thatcher was allowed to emasculate us. And look where it's got us. Since the 70s, class sizes have got bigger, school buildings are crumbling away, we've had pay freeze after pay freeze and classroom teachers are drowning in bureaucracy instead of being allowed to channel their energies into their classes. That's unity for you. And by the way, some of those union bosses who were calling the shots had never set foot in a classroom. We should never let the powers that be persuade us that militant with a small m is a dirty word.