NEU Added 50,000 Members In Covid Pandemic

[mikeprice]

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/50000-rise-in-neu-teachers-union_uk_5f496bf4c5b64f17e13d9401

 

Just seen this

 

so - union membership seems to have greatly increased since lockdown

 

 

This worries me

 

WHY are there people who are working in schools - in contact with kids - that are not in a union??

 

it only needs one kid - maybe now - maybe in 20 years

maybe confused

maybe landing an event on the wrong person

maybe just disturbed and - whatever

maybe - $deity knows what

 

 

but if you work in a school and are in contact with kids

 

then you NEED to be in a union

for the rest of your life

 

I thought this message was clear

 

apparently not

[elsiegee40]

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/50000-rise-in-neu-teachers-union_uk_5f496bf4c5b64f17e13d9401

 

Just seen this

 

so - union membership seems to have greatly increased since lockdown

 

 

This worries me

 

WHY are there people who are working in schools - in contact with kids - that are not in a union??

 

it only needs one kid - maybe now - maybe in 20 years

maybe confused

maybe landing an event on the wrong person

maybe just disturbed and - whatever

maybe - $deity knows what

 

 

but if you work in a school and are in contact with kids

 

then you NEED to be in a union

for the rest of your life

 

I thought this message was clear

 

apparently not

 

I was equally surprised when I read this yesterday. Join a union folks.

[stevejp]

I was equally surprised when I read this yesterday. Join a union folks.

 

From personal experience, no matter how tight things are financially, membership of a Union is essential - saved my career a few years ago.

[smurfomatic]

From personal experience, no matter how tight things are financially, membership of a Union is essential - saved my career a few years ago.

 

Out of interest, what unions are people here members of? NEU? Unison? Unite?

[6Foot2]

Out of interest, what unions are people here members of? NEU? Unison? Unite?

 

Until recently I was a member of Unison. I have now moved over to NEU.

[caffrey]

One of those things I keep forgetting about, with an uncertain future think I'll get signed up. Thanks for the reminder

[ticktock]

Was in ATL but now in NEU after merger. I really liked ATL and they were great when my colleague and me needed them during redundancies. Not sure about NEU as I haven't needed them yet but they seem much more teacher focused than ATL.

[stevejp]

I’m NEU, but I’m a teacher.

[mikeprice]

Was in ATL but now in NEU after merger. I really liked ATL and they were great when my colleague and me needed them during redundancies. Not sure about NEU as I haven't needed them yet but they seem much more teacher focused than ATL.

 

I agree - I liked the ATL

the merger felt more like a takeover to me

 

but we shall see

[keyboards]

Unison sorted our uniform disagreement in work with one email, they proposed a uniform for IT which I felt was unfair, one email to unison, unison emailed our HR within seconds that idea disappeared...

[stevejp]

I agree - I liked the ATL

the merger felt more like a takeover to me

 

but we shall see

 

And there was me thinking I was just a cynical old wotsit... glad I wasn’t the only one who thought that!

[CHiLL]

A few years ago our executive head at the time gave an instruction for all staff to join a union. This came from an incident in his other school where a student had made a (later found false) allegation against one of their staff, who wasn't in a union. Police were involved and it was a mess because the member of staff had no legal protection whatsoever. It was this incident that made me join Unison at the time, as I wasn't in a union, despite working in schools for ~5 years prior. I kept thinking "oh, I'll just do it later", which I constantly delayed. I then switched to the NEU because I wanted a union that was more education oriented, as Unison/Unite/GMB are all generic industry unions.

[6Foot2]

Unison sorted our uniform disagreement in work with one email, they proposed a uniform for IT which I felt was unfair, one email to unison, unison emailed our HR within seconds that idea disappeared...

 

What was in Unison's E-Mail?

 

There were mutterings of some form of staff uniform before I handed in my notice.

 

It would be interesting to hear/read an effective argument against it.

[synaesthesia]

Only very recently joined a union (Voice) - most others seem too profiteering and childish in action, and felt I could win my way round any possible issues. However, having seen how stupid some human beings are first hand, I've had to bite the bullet and do one thing I vowed never to do. And yes, absolutely feel it's a must these days, especially for staff in academies/private schools.

[mikeprice]

And there was me thinking I was just a cynical old wotsit... glad I wasn’t the only one who thought that!

 

The amount of "information" they sent out - all saying how wonderful the 'new' union was going to be - with not a single word putting an opposing opinion was a clue

 

I feel they were feeling fed up with the NASUWT going on about being the largest teacher union and wanted to get more members

 

and, of course, the fees went up as well - ATL was always cheaper (for teachers)

 

they had to accept the support staff as part of the deal

 

it would be interesting to hear from anyone - as a member of support staff - who has had problems that needed a union - before and after the takeover - sorry - merger

[smurfomatic]

Only very recently joined a union (Voice) - most others seem too profiteering and childish in action, and felt I could win my way round any possible issues. However, having seen how stupid some human beings are first hand, I've had to bite the bullet and do one thing I vowed never to do. And yes, absolutely feel it's a must these days, especially for staff in academies/private schools.

 

Voice looks like a good fit for me. I see on their website they have a referral scheme, if you want a £5 M&S voucher you can refer me!

[keyboards]

What was in Unison's E-Mail?

 

There were mutterings of some form of staff uniform before I handed in my notice.

 

It would be interesting to hear/read an effective argument against it.

 

It didn't even get that far, we felt a bit targeted with the uniform as none of the other trust staff were going to wear it only the cleaners and us, which we felt was very wrong, Unison emailed our HR etc, just asking they involve them in any discussions, literally from that email onwards it was dropped, basically, our trust seem to get scared straight away. We had no real problem with a uniform but we did due to, we dress smart as it is and the dress is smarter than what we considered the uniform and we thought the uniform wasn't being applied correctly across all employees and thus unfair and not treating people as equal

Edited August 31, 2020 by keyboards

[Norphy]

When I started in Edu, I was in Unison but along the way I got increasingly disillusioned with their politics and it always seems to me that Unison are more interested in promoting Unison than they are looking after their members.

 

I joined ATL which got borged into the NEU. I’ve not had to engage any of their services yet and hopefully I won’t need to.

 

Since the merger, they seem to have lost their focus on support staff somewhat and when I first contacted the rep at my school to introduce myself there was something of a “woah, you’re not a teacher” vibe but all that said, my current rep seems good and i have been invited to various Skype conferences in regards to IT support issues. They do have an IT group in them which is nice.

[mikeprice]

When I started in Edu, I was in Unison but along the way I got increasingly disillusioned with their politics and it always seems to me that Unison are more interested in promoting Unison than they are looking after their members.

 

I joined ATL which got borged into the NEU. I’ve not had to engage any of their services yet and hopefully I won’t need to.

 

Since the merger, they seem to have lost their focus on support staff somewhat and when I first contacted the rep at my school to introduce myself there was something of a “woah, you’re not a teacher” vibe but all that said, my current rep seems good and i have been invited to various Skype conferences in regards to IT support issues. They do have an IT group in them which is nice.

 

OK

sounds OK that they will realise that non teachers can be part of the Union and respond properly to it

 

any other experiences??

[caffrey]

Well I joined NEU, I liked the name - reminds me of a 70s Krautrock band

[Quatermass]

Well I joined NEU, I liked the name - reminds me of a 70s Krautrock band

 

An excellent band!

 

GMB myself, but yes, union absolutely vital.

[Ditto]

Are union fees generally a fixed amount, regardless of how many hours worked? One job I had was so low paid and such little hours with silly commute, I'd fear I'd would have end up with a net loss!

[Norphy]

Are union fees generally a fixed amount, regardless of how many hours worked? One job I had was so low paid and such little hours with silly commute, I'd fear I'd would have end up with a net loss!

 

Depends on the union. Unison charge fees based on your wage. NEU seem to go by your job role. It's cheaper for me to be in the NEU than it is to be in Unison.

[Rob_D]

but if you work in a school and are in contact with kids

then you NEED to be in a union

 

for the rest of your life

I thought this message was clear

apparently not

 

Across the 4 schools I've worked in, none have ever presented that kind of message, and before your post hadn't considered that I would need to maintain union membership after I stopped working/left education.

I'm not trying to be contrarian, but where would this message come from that people who are only peripherally aware of unions would be looking?

 

I think it's pretty easy for people just starting out as support staff to not get anything more on unions than "they are a thing that exists", and from the outside you don't really see what they do/can offer beyond strikes and pay rises (that you benefit from even if you aren't a member). Combine that with some level of negativity around "unions" from the recent rail strikes and general Thatcherisum (probably less so now) and that, for people just starting out, it can seem like another (comparatively large) chunk of their salary, when it's not that big to start with and they're already loosing a good chunk to NI, pensions, and student loan.

When things are ticking alone fine, it doesn't cross peoples minds and unless something happens or someone sits you down and says what mikeprice did, you're not going to suddenly start thinking about it.

 

I'm in no way saying people shouldn't join up, but I can see why they might not have.

[mikeprice]

Across the 4 schools I've worked in, none have ever presented that kind of message, and before your post hadn't considered that I would need to maintain union membership after I stopped working/left education.

I'm not trying to be contrarian, but where would this message come from that people who are only peripherally aware of unions would be looking?

 

I think it's pretty easy for people just starting out as support staff to not get anything more on unions than "they are a thing that exists", and from the outside you don't really see what they do/can offer beyond strikes and pay rises (that you benefit from even if you aren't a member). Combine that with some level of negativity around "unions" from the recent rail strikes and general Thatcherisum (probably less so now) and that, for people just starting out, it can seem like another (comparatively large) chunk of their salary, when it's not that big to start with and they're already loosing a good chunk to NI, pensions, and student loan.

When things are ticking alone fine, it doesn't cross peoples minds and unless something happens or someone sits you down and says what mikeprice did, you're not going to suddenly start thinking about it.

 

I'm in no way saying people shouldn't join up, but I can see why they might not have.

 

As I started in schools as a teacher I got the message loud and clear from out tutor at University when doing my PGCE

it also helped that the unions were very involved at my second teaching practice school - and the ATL rep my HOD's wife!

That was also the main school that I worked in a few schools later!

 

But as far as support staff are concerned - as there is no clear formal education - there is also no clear point where this can be said

 

personally I would like school to push this message every year - at the end of the day it is far less messy for them should an accusation be made - if they can talk through a union, and to a staff member who has some proper support - rather than a staff member that is in shock and may be a jibbering wreck

 

I