Vote of Thanks and Solidarity with all members who put in Section 44 Letters

 At our AGM on 23rd April, Derby NEU unanimously agreed the following vote of thanks and solidarity with all our members who put in Section 44 letters in January, playing a huge role in saving lives across the country.

When schools returned in September last year, the government had ignored the advice of the education unions and not put enough measures in place to prevent schools becoming major sites of the spread of infection.

 

As the term wore on, the government was forced into a lockdown but exempted schools from it and did nothing to make schools safer. As infections continue to rise, some employers tried to be responsible and close schools early for Christmas. The government’s response was to put more lives in danger by threatening legal action against them.

 

In January 2021, as the death toll reached over 1,000 a day, the government was set on reopening schools as before and spreading infection even further. The NEU was the only union to stand up to this deadly behaviour, and tens of thousands of NEU members prepared to put Section 44 letters into their employers, refusing to work in a situation that would lead to thousands, if not tens of thousands more deaths.

 

The actions of these members forced the government to u-turn and the establishment of a lockdown that was able to successfully bring an end to the wave of infections sweeping the country.

 

The actions of our members are always important in halting damage to and improving the conditions in the education system, and every day we make a difference to the lives of young people in this country. But in January, those members who put, or were preparing to put, Section 44 letters into their employers saved literally thousands of lives.

 

Our whole membership, and the whole country, owe these members our thanks and solidarity. They put their communities first. They put lives first. They did what the government refused to do.

 

Derby City NEU offers all members who put and were prepared to put Section 44 letters in our thanks and our solidarity, and we stand ready to do the same again in the face of imminent threat to life.