Conference 2017 Day 2

Welcome back to our Daily Conference Blog! Day Two is the first day of major conference business, and this year workload and funding are at the top of many delegates minds.

The day began with the presidential address by Louise Regan, this year's president. She gave a speech which focussed on these key issues, but also took in the other work that the union does, particularly our international work.

To get a flavour of the morning's debates you can do no better than Twitter - if you haven't checked out the #nut17 tweets please do. @cityofderbynut was pretty active!

One of the outcomes of this morning's session has already made the news - click here to read all about it!

Rather than go through all the minutiae of the debate, let's have a quick round-up of some of the highlights.

Motion 12 was crucial to getting a campaign that can stop the education cuts, linked to building strike action in associations and divisions as well as nationally, but also working to campaign alongside parents and other groups where possible.

School Cuts

The School Cuts website was brought up several times during the debate - if you haven't yet used it to find out how much your school and schools in your area are going to lose in the next two years, you should! Go to http://www.schoolcuts.org.uk/#/ to see exactly what is going to be taken away. One of the speakers put it very clearly: the government is coming to rob our children of £3 billion while giving £4bn in tax breaks to the rich and the corporations.

Joanna Yurky - Fair Funding For All Schools

One of today's guests was Jo Yurky. Jo spoke just after motion 12 was passed, from the parent-led Fair Funding For All Schools campaign. She told conference "it's our choice: do nothing, or do something." We need to DO SOMETHING!

Megan Chorlton - Durham TA

 

One of the guests of conference was Megan, who had addressed the fringe meeting we attended last night. She was once again absolutely brilliant, brimming with confidence in front of conference and an inspriation to trades unionists everywhere. Not only did she make the unanswerable case for the value of TAs, but she was also clear that taking action, standing up to defend what is right, makes you realise that you are not alone and that you are more powerful than you ever knew. Support the Durham TAs and the Derby TAs - their disputes may be approaching resolution but are far from over and although the 23% pay cuts that were being imposed may officially be off the table many are still facing more work, more time spent on evidencing that they are doing the work, and not seeing any pay increase for this.

As Megan said, the cuts are a threat to us all: "we don't want to have fought to save our jobs and then look up at the end and find that our jobs have gone."

International Solidarity

 International Solidarity work is an important part of our union, working alongside charities like Edukid (who we hope to invite to a future Derby members meeting) to raise awareness about the conditions in parts of the world. But it also means working with trades unions around the world and helping colleagues who are victimised. Conference has already heard from the Palestinian Global Teacher of the Year Hanan al Hroub. The situation in Turkey at the moment is particularly dangerous, with many teachers arrested. Conference backed support for teachers in Turkey and received a recorded address from Huber Ballesteros, the Colombian farmers trade union leader who had been imprisoned by the government and freed after international pressure.

Steve Sinnott Award

This year's winner of the Steve Sinnott Award for international solidarity work was given to Niparun Nessa. Niparun has visited and worked with people in Cuba, Palestine, Bosnia and with refugees trapped in Calais. She gave a passionate speech about the importance of education, and the need to get young teachers involved in this work.

The Great Speeches We Never Give

One of the frustrations of conference is when motions are passed before the debate really gets going - especially for delegates who have got themselves ready to address conference and have a speech they want to give! This happened with motion 13 this year to two of our delegates. The speakers are randomised, so it's really unusual to see two from the same delegation together and doubly disappointing that our ace delegates, Nic and Steph didn't get to speak. Still - three days left! We really hope that Steph gets to speak on the asbestos in schools motion, which is particularly important to her (although it should be to every teacher!)

Political Affiliation - A Near Miss?

The most divisive issue on Day Two was the vote for an amendment that would have meant that the union would consider possible affiliation to the Labour Party (it didn't instruct the executive to affiliate, but to explore the issue). This amendment went to a Digivote (the new system that has replaced card votes of previous conferences) and was defeated by an extremely narrow margin - less than 1%.

Support Juhel Miah

 Juhel Miah was taken off a plane on a trip he was leading to New York by the American authorities, with no explanation. He has been trying to get answers from the US authorities to find out why he was hauled off the train in front of the students he was taking and refused permission to enter the country, but has had no satisfaction. He told conference that the US is now denying that the incident even happened! Juhel told conference he would keep the union apprised of his efforts and conference gave a standing ovation in support of him.