Yesterday, I successfully moved the following motion at SSTA Council:

“Council, believing that teachers’ pay and conditions of service are now clearly under unprecedented attack resolves to work collaboratively with other teaching and trade unions to form a united front to act collectively to resist actions detrimental to the education of young people in Scotland”

Here is what I actually said:

Council

This motion has grown out of the anger that we all feel at the attacks upon our wages, our pensions, our conditions of service, and has grown also out of the need to collectively defend these very things.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented attack on public services, public servants and the public that they serve, with we teachers very much in the firing line.

For the UK government’s ‘We’re all in this together’ – read: “so long as I’m alright Jack.”

A new coalition, new politics but the same old story of the poorest paying the price of the folly of the rich.

Instead of standing up to the bankers, this coalition has stood up for them.

These cuts are not only damaging, they are unnecessary. Whilst our public services are bled try, the banks receive yet another transfusion.

According to UK Uncut Vodafone, HSBC, Barclays are just some of the companies “employ[ing] armies of lawyers and accountants to exploit legal loopholes to dodge billions in tax” amounting to some 25 thousand million pounds.

Whilst the probationer in my department wonders if she will even have a job next year, one man alone, Philip Green the boss of Topshop has managed to dodge close to £300 million pounds in tax.

£300 million.

Instead of closing off the prospects of our probationers they should be closing off the tax loopholes – each and every one of them.

What is sickening, is that whatever the Westminster-imposed cuts are they being jumped upon within Scotland by an unholy alliance of CoSLA and the Scottish government seemingly united though not necessarily competent in their desire to attack teachers.

We are as an association, correctly non-partisan but I have to say that I for one don’t see the benefit of a council tax freeze to a school office worker, a school janitor or a school teacher who has lost their job to bring that freeze about.

One thing is clear, the best way for secondary teachers to protect their conditions of service is to join the SSTA but we must show the leadership and the maturity to work with others to achieve our goals.

We are all in this together, we are all facing attack.

The fact that it possibly supply teachers, probationers, conservation and the Chartered Teacher scheme first does not mean the rest are immune.

It seems that the minister would have us believe that it’s the local councils that have him by the throat,whilst CoSLA complains of a domineering executive forcing its agenda on them.

But it doesn’t matter who is the monkey and who is the organ grinder or whatever the tune is that’s being played both government and CoSLA are waltzing along arm in arm.

This motion calls us on us to give a clear message to them both: you’re not on and we will work with others to protect and preserve the conditions of service that we earn through our hard work, that we earn through our dedication and our commitment to young people.

Last Autumn in common with many other public sector unions we marched to take action against cuts but in the period ahead we may have to do much more than march.

Last May I moved a Congress motion saying that, “whilst the general election campaign had just ended; the campaign to save Scottish education had just begun.”

That bit was easy to predict, but I don’t know what lies ahead.

Though, whatever attacks do lie ahead…locally or nationally they must be faced, fought and defeated by collective action.