In a rare show of unity, the three main teaching trade unions have launched a joint campaign to cut teachers' workloads and secure a 35-hour working week. Delegates at the April 2001 annual conferences of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) backed a common resolution calling for:
At their Easter 2001 conferences, the UK's three main teaching trade unions each voted in favour of the same resolution calling for a 35-hour working week. The unions are threatening to take industrial action in the autumn if the government refuses to meet their demands.
In a rare show of unity, the three main teaching trade unions have launched a joint campaign to cut teachers' workloads and secure a 35-hour working week. Delegates at the April 2001 annual conferences of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) backed a common resolution calling for:
an independent inquiry into teachers' workload pay and conditions in England and Wales; and
industrial action, short of a strike, to limit teachers' working hours to no more than 35 hours per week.
The industrial action is scheduled to take effect in the autumn school term if the government refuses to meet the unions' demands. A key point of reference for the unions is the 35-hour maximum working week agreed for teachers in Scotland. Government ministers said that they were prepared to review workload issues but regard the unions' claim for a 35-hour week as unworkable and "unprofessional".
Talks between the Department for Education and Employment, local authority employers and the teaching unions about the remit for a review of teachers' workload took place on 1 May. There is to be a review group composed of government, employer and union representatives, informed by an independent study to be undertaken by consultants Price Waterhouse Coopers. The review group will make recommendations to the School Teachers' Review Body (UK0011100F).
The education and employment secretary, David Blunkett, said in a statement: "The study has the potential to develop a significant programme of action making a real and tangible difference across the full range of teachers' work." According to the NUT, the terms of reference of the review cover all aspects of teachers' conditions of service, including overall limits on working time, but ministers refused to extend its remit to include pay. The teaching unions are continuing to demand an enquiry into teachers' pay levels and structure.
Coinciding with the meeting, the NASUWT and the NUT suspended industrial action undertaken recently in some schools, involving limits on teachers covering for long-term absences and unfilled vacancies. Short-term measures to address teacher shortages were due to take place between the unions and local authorities in early May.
Some commentators regard the unprecedented cooperation between the three unions as the precursor to an eventual merger if effective collaboration can be maintained. All three organisations are affiliates of the Trades Union Congress, whose leadership is keen to promote the rationalisation of trade unionism in the education sector. However, the prospect of "professional unity" may still be many years away and is unlikely before the retirement of the current general secretaries of the NUT and NASUWT, whose periods in office have been characterised by fierce rivalry between the teaching unions.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2001), Teaching unions adopt united stance on 35-hour week, article.
