Sam,

Thankfully, I have found the idea of fairness for all teachers has not been abandonned by all primary teachers. From my own staffroom, approximately 1/2 have joined other associations, but generally this has been done quietly.

Oh the irony of teaching our pupils to be responsible citizens, when as a profession, we renege on our collegiatial obligations to eachother.

But, I do have hope.

-Brenda

 Yes, there is an alternative.  Several  in fact.  

For secondary teachers:  SSTA.  The union rejected the 2011 deal and is currently supporting supply teacher members to challenge the new contracts.

For Primary colleagues, there's the SPTA (no connection with the SSTA by the way) although I suspect the fact that they were breaking away from the EIS as did the SSTA some 70 years ago had something to do with the choice of name.

For those who want a union which caters for Primary and Secondary across the UK, there's the NASUWT.  My personal view is that the NASUWT is essentially an English based union.  They've got a Scottish organisation but it has no independence of action.  I have it on rock solid authority that when the teachers' side of the SNCT met at EIS HQ to discuss the 2011 pay and conditions offer, the EIS announced their acceptance , the SSTA rejected but the NASUWT rep had to leave the room to make a phone call, presumably to NASUWT HQ in Birmingham.

For those who don't want a union at all, there's Voice.  You can tell from my choice of phrase that I consider them beyond the pale: non union, non strike, non spine etc.  However, if people are deluded enough to think that an employer will respect people who lack any backbone, I'd rather they belonged to something.

Your post is an interesting comment on how far we've come in the past couple of years.  I've been a regular on this forum for several years now and my long experience of taking on the EIS at national and local level has made me very cynical about their leadership.  Long before last year's disgraceful sell out, I was saying that the EIS leadership were seriously detached from their membership and more interested in consolidating their own positions and the power of the EIS rather than the working conditions of teachers.  I can recall comparing them to the leadership of the Communist Party in the USSR:  "We never make mistakes".

I assure you, I take no pleasure in being vindicated.  The sell out damaged too many teachers for that.

[edited by: Dominie at 12:03 (GMT 0) on 17-6-2012]

 The EIS is riven by many things at the moment - East Coast/West Coast divide, Labour/SNP divisions and EIS members who regret that the supply situation was not more widely addressed.

 I will say this. The legislation passed before a great many members knew what was happening. Lack of conscientiousness on our part? Lack of understanding? I accept all that - but the EIS remain a strong Union.

 Many things thought unfeasible even three years ago have now come onto the statute books for Education. We can all knee jerk with band-aid, quick-fix, protest-vote union membership and I've entertained that thought in the past - but the EIS have a history working to the benefit of the majority of teachers.

 All the unions you list have exhibited a lack of support in the past for a great many actions supported and fought by the EIS. Let's not make hasty decisions based on one, admittedly regrettable, occasion when, among a volley of new changes to Education in Scotland, we missed one. An important one, but don't feel that many EIS members don't regret it.

Harryhausen

 I will say this. The legislation passed before a great many members knew what was happening. Lack of conscientiousness on our part? Lack of understanding? I accept all that - but the EIS remain a strong Union.

Er. No. Your leadership pushed it through after doing a total volte face. The majority of your members voting in a ballot, followed the leadership line. The pronlem is with the leadership, not the membership.

Harryhausen

All the unions you list have exhibited a lack of support in the past for a great many actions supported and fought by the EIS.

Yes. It's all too apparent that the EIS is now a very different animal indeed. I can't see the late John Pollock EVER agreeing to abandon members in the way supply teachers, Conserved PTs and CTs have been abandoned. Nor do I see anyone of his calibre or intellect in the current leadership.

Harryhausen

Let's not make hasty decisions based on one, admittedly regrettable, occasion when, among a volley of new changes to Education in Scotland, we missed one. An important one, but don't feel that many EIS members don't regret it.

I admire loyalty but not obsequy. An important mistake? Surely it's far more fundamental. Trade union members were cynically abandoned. That goes beyond the pale. Why be a member of a trade union at all if groups of members are sacrificed in this way. Your new GS is on record as saying that the supply pay situation needs looking at again. I assume LF is not a hypocrite as AFAIK he was not a member of the salaries committee which took the Judas decision. Others who were and who are now spouting the same thing , should have the guts to resign and let others take their places. Mind you, if they had any guts or sense of propriety, they would never have abandoned their members in the first place..

Harryhausen

 The EIS is riven by many things at the moment - East Coast/West Coast divide, Labour/SNP divisions and EIS members who regret that the supply situation was not more widely addressed.

 I will say this. The legislation passed before a great many members knew what was happening. Lack of conscientiousness on our part? Lack of understanding? I accept all that - but the EIS remain a strong Union.

 Many things thought unfeasible even three years ago have now come onto the statute books for Education. We can all knee jerk with band-aid, quick-fix, protest-vote union membership and I've entertained that thought in the past - but the EIS have a history working to the benefit of the majority of teachers.

 All the unions you list have exhibited a lack of support in the past for a great many actions supported and fought by the EIS. Let's not make hasty decisions based on one, admittedly regrettable, occasion when, among a volley of new changes to Education in Scotland, we missed one. An important one, but don't feel that many EIS members don't regret it.

The EIS emailed membership to drum up support for the sell out deal. It wasn't a case of missing what was happening to supply teachers but of actively pursuing it.

airy

The EIS emailed membership to drum up support for the sell out deal. It wasn't a case of missing what was happening to supply teachers but of actively pursuing it.

Totally correct.

Ronnie Smith issued diktats telling reps not to post up anything which opposed the sell-out while Helen Connor told members on Facebook that supply teachers would be worse off if the deal wasn't accepted! She also said that the SNCT would collapse despite Mike Russell denying that would be allowed to happen.

Make no mistake .. the EIS leadership helped push the deal through in what was a disgraceful betrayal of their own members.

Larry Flanagan says he was not in favour. Well, now is his chance to put this right!

[edited by: socrates82 at 20:47 (GMT 0) on 19-6-2012]

I got the impression reps were sent out to preach the party line and scare us all into submission. Accept this or we'll lose national negotiating. Accept this or McCormac will have us teaching 8 hours a day with no non-contact, lunchtime duties and a pay cut. I don't know if they believed it or not but the supply teachers were painted as a tiny sacrifice to for the good of the many.

A very good summary from the original poster. I was an EIS rep in a secondary who took membership from 25 to 40 through being active and promoting the coherence and power of the EIS over other unions. When the sell-out deal was proposed, little did I know that the EIS leadership was 'in on the strategy' of flying kites before cutting one string (sick pay) at the behest of COSLA. Watching our leadership campaign for a massive diminution of conditions before the Cormack Review was heart-breaking. It was the biggest challenge in a generation and COSLA knew it was a sealed deal in advance. When we won the vote to reject, we felt vindicated. When I came in next day and found that they were recommending acceptance after a minor adjustment, the betrayal was immense. As an active group, the betrayal was almost universal. Approximately half of the members have left and mainly joined the SSTA (we have a good NASUWT rep) and feel, so far, a better and more focused service is being given. Harry says, " the EIS have a history working to the benefit of the majority of teachers." I'm afraid many of 'my members' would heartily disagree, be it from McCrone, abandoned court cases and the SOA. I feel sorry for the many hard-working reps who now think their main strategy is to shift the EIS more towards members needs than the needs and egos of the leadership cabal as their energy is now being spent on the fight within rather than the battle outside. They lost the heart of the union and many members. Maybe that's why they like the surplus of teachers being trained - are we expendable?

Dominie

It's all too apparent that the EIS is now a very different animal indeed. I can't see the late John Pollock EVER agreeing to abandon members in the way supply teachers, Conserved PTs and CTs have been abandoned.

Really? Did he not lead the negotiations in the 1980s and were decisions not taken then to reduce the salaries of certain groups of teachers by freezing them until they were equivalent to the top of the maingrade scale in the same way that's happening now now with the PTs? This type of 'conservation' is not new and I don't recollect any outcry then from those not personally affected. This has happened to me but I have to say that the particularly appalling treatment that supply teachers are receiving has put it in perspective.

anotherauntsally

This has happened to me but I have to say that the particularly appalling treatment that supply teachers are receiving has put it in perspective.

Fair play for saying that AAS.

The treatment of supply colleagues is a disgrace. My doctor told me recently that she would be expecting MORE money to work as a locum ... and yet the EIS somehow deemed it appropriate to back a 47% cut for their most vulnerable members!

It's time teachers started defending themselves better and at least the Scottish Supply Teachers network are trying to fight back. Hopefully more and more colleagues can lend a hand.

The question asks whether there is an alternative to the EIS.  The answer is No. 

I speak not as an advocate of the EIS - the sell out was disgraceful - but it is the only show in town.  Other unions don't have the clout or resources to fight for our pensions or fighting McCormac.

Despite the fact that the EIS sold out supply members, it still is by far and away the biggest union.  Many EIS members, although unhappy, will simply not join the SSTA or other unions because they simply don't have the clout to do anything worthwhile. 

Why did the SSTA not call for industrial action after the sell-out and on CFE much earlier if they were so against it?  The SSTA is good at sniping from the sidelines, but when it comes to doing something worthwhile they are posted missing - I take the recent example of the work to contract which is a good soundbite but  will achieve nothing.  They have also chosen to hand over negotiating seats in the pensions forum with the Scottish Government to the EIS - a bizarre choice.

Unless Mr Flanagan gets his house in order very quickly we are all doomed.

Effinbankers

Why did the SSTA not call for industrial action after the sell-out

Because the EIS sold out and they have a majority on the SNCT.  The answer is for teachers to leave the EIS and strengthen other unions.

Effinbankers

and on CFE much earlier

Do you think teachers would go on strike over CfE?  I doubt it.  Work to rule?  Probably.  You are aware that the EIS GS is one of the biggest flag wavers for CfE? 

Effinbankers

I take the recent example of the work to contract which is a good soundbite but  will achieve nothing

Not interested in soundbites speaking for myself.  A 35 hour week is worth having though.

Effinbankers

They have also chosen to hand over negotiating seats in the pensions forum with the Scottish Government to the EIS - a bizarre choice.

No.  A  lie cultivated by the EIS and now being spread by their more credulous supporters. The SSTA still has representation.  Not only is this untrue but I understand that the fact that this nonsense was reported publicly breaks the clearly understood rules applying to the leaking of information from the group.  If I was an EIS member, I would be very worried about being represented by people who think that numbers at the table equates to strength of argument and who are prepared to break clearly understood rules of engagement.  Then again, what would you expect of people who are prepared to sell out their own members?

 

Learned and experienced contributions to my original post - my thanks.

The family get together I referred to was a funeral, and I feel that we're going to have to prepare for another one. The final burial of the corpse of collective action.

There are so many scared people out there that they won't even peep above the parapet to protect the weak. Dammit - you know the old story (attrib pastor Neimoller) - "first they came for the socialists.."

You know how it goes...

..."then they came for me."

They really are coming for you. And the more divided, and the more insecure they can make you, the easier it will be to defeat you. Your profession, and mine, is being casualised, devalued and this is not an accident.

The SG/CoSLA/EIS hegemony has tested you on the supply teacher question. They won. They know now that you don't care.

You will suffer the same fate as did the miners under Thatcher. Goodbye.

Sam

 

Dominie

The answer is for teachers to leave the EIS and strengthen other unions.

 

A year on from the sell out and the other unions haven't really strengthened their positions substantially in terms of membership.  Most teachers are still in the EIS. Perhaps this sums up the laissez faire and selfish nature of teachers today, but it is what it is.  The massive defection from the EIS is not going to happen.

The SSTA is far from the panacea for all things wrong in education.  They're equally as useless as the EIS.  They announce "action" when the horse is several fields away or when it needs to toe the line with other public sector unions to save face.  The SSTA has been critical of CFE for a few years - but what has it actually done about it? Press releases?  A work to contract may make individuals feel better but are Osborne, Alexander or COSLA worried? Of course not. Just like the EIS, the SSTA is only really interested in membership revenues to keep those in Edinburgh in cushy jobs.

Whether we like it or not its the EIS who will shape the outcome of the pensions issue, McCormac, CFE etc.    As I have already said the EIS needs to sort itself for the sake of all Scottish teachers, regardless of union affiliation; if it doesn't we are all going to get shafted on several fronts.

 

Is anyone still fighting for our pensions? My eis rep disgraced himself when I emailed him with figures to say that our strike pay reduction had been overcalculated, enclosing the formula and figures etc. He sent back a downright rude and condescending email, telling me that my calculations were wrong. He then emailed a few weeks later to say the pay would be in the next paycheck, no apology, nothing! Grr, the only reason I haven't left is because I see little alternative :(

homegirl

Grr, the only reason I haven't left is because I see little alternative :(

 I think many teachers share that view.

But which do you prefer... seeing little alternative versus creating or contributing to an alternative? The former allows you do do nothing and nothing changes. You are still dissatisfied, still paying your membership dues and still permitting yourself to be ignored by your own organisation.

There are other options out there, but many teachers seem to be frozen in the headlights.

Surely, you deserve better?

For the past 18 months I have argued we have to resist attacks on conditions, salaries and pensions. I've argued that the only option is to do that in the EIS. But if you know who I am and my name always appears on my posts then you would expect me to say that. In my near 40 years in teaching I have been an EIS member, and at at various times, school rep, EIS Council member, Local Association Secretary and more. It is a myth that people leaving the EIS will strengthen anything, at least anything that matters to teachers but COSLA and ADES might be stronger. Teachers leaving the EIS weakens not strengthens teachers. Its also common knowledge I campaigned against any agreement that cut salaries for supply teachers. But my years of experience in the EIS and in dealing with employers taught me that even with the best of intentions other unions can't deliver.Employers like small fragmented unions they can play off against each other. The union belongs to the members and knew that if I wanted to try and make things happen then I had to get active in the union. So I did again. I'm working for EIS members in school again - one of the reasons I have been too busy to get to this forum until the end of session - and I will be on EIS Council next session. This doesn't mean everything in the EIS will run how I want it, but it means I will have my say and can argue my case. This is the only way to try and protect conditions, salaries and pensions - inside the EIS and working for what you believe and not outside blaming someone else for all the ills of teaching. Others may argue that division is the way forward. They may believe that to be true but in my opinion bigger is stronger when it comes to unions and I believe that is one of the reasons that my own school has 70%+ EIS membership and slowly climbing. Ian McCrone

That is a very, very good point! The EIS can only be what we expect it to be if we get involved. I have been toying with asking to take over the eis rep post in my school since the strike action as our rep is very disinterested and I think your post may have just pushed me to actually do this. Thank you.

I'm all about people getting active and trying to make a difference. I urge people to explore the organisational structures within their union and ask who answers to whom in their respective organisations, who directs the decision-making process? Who has the last word? Otherwise all good intentions and efforts will be for nothing.

Having done this myself, I arrived at my answer and my present course of action.

Best wishes to everyone trying to make a difference.

Teachers deserve better than what they have gotten.