Teachers face pay crunch

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HOTRULY THE 4 T 14001 This is why the WSL has featured at the forefront of pay struggles in British Leyland and the public sector, in the fight against redundancies and closures, in struggles against the cuts, unionisation fights, and the fight. for This method of approach - rejecting any descent to simple trade union militancy or concession to the labour bureaucracy - is of course essential not only in Britain In taking up international issues in the labour movement the WSL stresses not only the obligation of British workers to support the Irish liberation struggle and revolutionary struggles such as those in Iran and Southern Africa, but also the necessity for the reconstruction of the Fill in the form below for more details, or approach HELES The Easter Conference of the National Union of Teachers begins at the weekend.

Pay will be the number one issue on the agenda.

The official union policy remains a demand for an overall 35% increase in salaries (though, as usual, weighted to benefit the well-heeled headmaster and senior teacher scales against the generally younger classroom teachers).

The 35% represents the sum necessary merely to restore, not increase, the buying power of teachers' salaries to the point achieved by the Houghton award of 1975.

It is already clear that Fred Jarvis and the NUT tops have no intention whatever of seriously fighting for an increase which remotely approaches 35%.

The Burnham Committee, which negotiates teachers' salaries has improved its pitiful 7.7% offer to around 9%.

While declaring this to be 'unacceptable' , and producing volumes of glossy propaganda 'proving' the justice of the teachers' case, not a single move has been made towards action.

Even the wretched 'contingency' plans of the National Executive-the most radical of which are withdrawal from lunch-time activities and selective half-day strikes-have not been implemented.

Instead', the leaders-who have paved the way for defeat by allowing their members to cross picket lines in the public sector low pay strikes-are lookworkers in struggle to grasp the ution.

democracy in the labour movement.

but internationally.

The WSL is not the biggest movement WHY NOT JOIN US?

ing for some kind of 'compara.

bility study' or some kind of 'staged increase' , with a few promises which they can present as some kind of 'concession' to teachers.

Teachers are a section of professional workers who as yet have little experience of mass At the NUT Conferencewhether or not an 'acceptable Jarvis and Co. want to make sure things stay that way.

The various 'left' oppositions in the union, such as the IMGbacked 'Socialist Teachers Alliance' and the SWP's 'Rank and File' offer no serious alternative to this betrayal, and have restricted their campaigns to more 'radical' versions of the In a recent election address an STA candidate for a national office issued a manifesto calling for "one day national strikes, if necessary" (!)

Only the Workers Socialist League teachers have campaign.ed for a policy which represents a clear break with harmless protests: full national strike action and inflation proofed wages based on the union's own figures.

Where this policy has been fought for it has received a response, but it comes sixth out of nine salaries resolutions in the pre-Conference prioritisations.

(A Socialist Press 'Conference Special' will be distributed and a Conference report will appear in next week's issue).

WORKERS LAREA LEAGUE SOCIALI SALL need for socialist revolon the left in and practice movement.

Shirley Williams' announcement of a 14% Firstly, she no doubt hopes that the announcement of the increase, (considerably more than last year) will win a few student votes; but secondly it comes just before the NUS conference, at which the Broad Left will be called upon to defend their record over the past year and to stand for reelection.

The increase, which is always presented to the members of the NUS as a fait accompli over which 1 they have no control, compares with a 26% claim.

The other major demands of the NUS grants campaign (for full grants for all studnets over the age of 16 and for an end to the means test) have been ignored.

Nevertheless at the April conference the grants issue will be overshadowed by two main questions: one formally on the agenda and the other not.

The first is the debate on the Constitutional Review.

The Broad Left are trying to introduce changes which will strengthen the Executive's hold over NUS at the expense of members, and to weaken the democratic structure of local student unions.

For instance, the proposals, if adopted, will restrict the freedom of constituent organisations to choose what issues are discussed at each of the two national conferences each year.

More difficult It will be more difficult to call an emergency conference..

At a local level, student unions will be encouraged to invest decision making powers. in "Student • Representative Councils" (delegate bodies) and so weaken the soverejgnty of general meetings.

WSL students will be campaigning at the NUS Conference for a rejection of the whole Constitutional Review Body NUS cannot be turned into a militant and democratic union by any amount of constitutional tinkering-least of all when this is directed by the Broad Left.

The second issue which is likely to create a great deal of interest at the conference is the announcement of the demise of the Broad Left and its replacement by a new "democratic! alliance"

This move, which has! already been announced in the Morning Star, is the culmination of the Stalinists' "democratic strategy' in NUS.

This "strategy" consists of building an alliance with the Tories in order to hold back militant struggles to outweigh the left.

In the past this has meant the wholesale adaptation of Tory policies (for instance the proposais on student union autonomy embodied in the Constitutional Review). :

Votes for Tories It has also meant Broad Left members voting for Federation ot Conservative , Students candidates in Executive elections, thus guaranteeing them a place.

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ANALIST LEAGUE INTERNATIO SODALIST RE

formula' on pay has been reached at the eleventh hour,

bureaucrats' essential strategy. One day

CP winds dn tuden Broad Left

increase in the student grant is timely on two counts.