Elect Martin Powell-Davies: 

Defending Teachers, Defending Education

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6 June 2004

PRESS RELEASE

Stop the "pensions robbery"

Martin tours schools and calls for united action to stop the "pensions robbery"

Tomorrow, Monday June 7th, the ballot to elect the next General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers opens. Ballot papers are being sent out to over a quarter of a million NUT members to decide who replaces Doug McAvoy as leader of the Union.

Martin Powell-Davies, Secretary of Lewisham NUT, is the only one of the four candidates standing for the post who is still teaching alongside his Union responsibilities.

 While his opponents have been able to rely on the backing of established groups within the Union, Martin’s campaign has been based on the grass roots support of classroom teachers.

His appeal, as a candidate from outside the Union hierarchy, in touch with the relentless pressure on teachers, has struck a chord with NUT members who feel let down by a leadership that has failed to stand firm for teachers. It may yet produce a result that will upset the odds and signal a real change at the top of the NUT.

In the opening week of the ballot, Martin will continue to fulfil his pledge to be a General Secretary that makes visiting members and schools a priority, as he travels to:

Monday: schools in Bristol, one of the metropolitan areas that has nominated Martin.

Tuesday: defend teachers in Lewisham faced with reorganisation and redundancy.

Wednesday: speak to teachers in Redbridge, North London (to be confirmed).

Thursday: speak at a meeting of the Bromley NUT Association, South London.

Friday: speak to NUT members at Chase Community School, Enfield, North London.

Martin will be particularly focusing on building the Union’s campaign against the Government’s "pensions robbery". Their proposals to force many teachers to work on until 65 to be able to claim a full pension have been met with outrage by NUT members.

While the National Union has been slow to publicise these threats, Martin’s campaign has written to every school in England and Wales encouraging teachers to attend the TUC’s national pensions demonstration in London on Saturday, June 19th.

Responding to the National Union Campaign Committee’s decision on May 27th to seek support for industrial action over pensions, Martin Powell-Davies has said:

"I welcome the decision to seek the support of other public sector unions for joint industrial action against the pensions robbery.

Now NUT members need to vote for a fighting General Secretary who is prepared to turn this policy into practice.

If elected, I would set out a timetable that would build up to a national one-day strike in the Autumn Term, hopefully together with other unions that are prepared to stand up for their members such as the PCS, the civil servants union.

The Union needs to mount a serious campaign to defeat these proposals.

I would conduct a "speaking tour", going out to members to explain the threats to pensions and how action can defeat them".