Teachers call for sliding scale
Socialist Press1978 1978-11-22Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 10 →
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At a well-attended meeting f the Havering National Union of Teachers in Outer East London, over fifty teachers overwhelmingly carried a fighting resolution on teachers' salaries.
Only three hands were raised against the resolution which is to go to the NUT conference in the New Year.
NUT leader Jarvis PHOTO: Chris Davies, Report The three main the resolution are:
*Immediate restoration of teachers salaries to the level attained by the Foughton Award of April 1974 (about a 25% increase).
*A cost-of-living clause to fully compensate for the effects of inflation as prices rise-based on a price index drawn up by the union itself not government figures.
*Industrial action, including national strike action, if the claim is not met.
Its policies are those consistently advocated by Workers Socialist League members in the teaching prófession and Socialist Press urges teachers to present similar motions and fight for the prioritisation of the Havering motion on the Conference agenda.
Frustration
The passing of such a policy reflects the frustration felt by teachers everywhere, who, along with the working class, have suffered an historic decline the buying power of their salaries.
The Havering Association is by no means noted for its militancy in the past, though it recently passed a motion demanding a Special Salaries Conference.
Support was without doubt gained because the resolution is not merely a 'militant salaries claim, which, even if won, would be rapidly eroded by inflation.
Such a policy is currently being touted by the 'Rank and File' and 'Socialist Teachers Alliance' groupings in the union (backed by the Socialist Workers Party and International Marxist Group respectively).
The fight for the full cost-of-living clause. a sliding scale of salaries) offers a permanent answer to inflation's effects on pay.
This policy challenges the basis of capitalism and the right of the employer, in this case the state itself, to fix wages to accord with its requirements.