80% Ote for Teachers' Sirke Leaders

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of 1976 (on which 37 Tribunites abstained, only to return swiftly to heel to vote confidence in Wilson's economic strategy) are now working their way through to the classrooms with devastating consequences.

534 JOBS In Oxfordshire the Tory Council plans to axe at least 534 teaching jobs from a total teaching force of just over 4,000, as well as closing down nurseries, Slicing expenditure on books and other equipment by a quarter and cutting jobs of cleaner, office and dinner staff.

These measures would make Oxfordshire 103rd out of 104 education authorities throughout England and Wales (from mid-way up the scale) in the league table of pupil: teacher ratios.

The NUT began the school year with a magnificent show of strength.

A half day strike last September produced a demonstration of 4,000 teachers and parents to lobby a county council meeting, and demagogic speeches from national and local leaders of the teachers' and other public service unions that "the fight was only just beginning"

FEBRUARY

It then took until late February of this year to force those leaders to introduce any more action into the schools.

NUT members learnt in practice the reasons for the introduction over the past few years of new disciplinary procedures and other bureaucratic measures giving the Executive's "Action Committee" complete control over lany fight against the cuts.

Firstly the county had to be designated an "action area". • Then members were balloted on 'refual to cover' sanctions. It took merely a matter of days when these sanctions were finally implemented in February for teachers to realise how totally ineffective they would be, Moves then began towards strike action. At least three NUT branches out of the nine in the county sent resolutions to the National Executive calling for indefinite strike action to be organised unless the 534 teachers on temporary contracts had their jobs secured.

These resolutions produced an unprecedented surge of energy from NUT National Officers who, once they had safely manoeuvred strike action off the agenda at the union's conference at Easter (along with agreeing to Phase 3 of wage controls), needed to appear to be doing something themselves so thev rushed into Oxfordshire in full force, organising special meetings and pledging the whole of the union's resources behind a fight. This is the only area they have done this.

They launched another ballot which carried an Executive recommendation for a yes vote on three forms of action-withdrawing from voluntary lunch time activities, action on class size, and strike action.

Having safely defused the anger and frustration of the teachers which had built up over the year, the Executive then sat back, obviously hoping for a majority just big enough to use as a pressure on the local authority so that they can be seen to have "achieved something' Unfortunately for them, reality proved somewhat different. Of the 2,200 members in the county 1,900 returned ballot papers, with 1,700 voting in favour of the Continued Back Page, Col 4. WASTE NATIO UNION, EXTREMISTS!

WRECKERS!

Youea DEMANDS

21210 STRIKE END OW WAGE NOW! BLACKING OFFICE DISTRICT STRIKE TO STOP CUTS!

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