Make the action bite

T
his term will see the first of the regional strikes agreed between the NUT and NASUWT as part of the fight to defend education and our pay and conditions. On 27 June schools across the North West should be shut. Socialist Worker supporters, and many others, argued at the NUT conference at Easter that it would have been better if we had begun the strikes with a national strike. Though a third of delegates backed that, a majority thought we should stick with the programme agreed by NUT and NASUWT leaders for beginning with regional action. few weeks. These must be as big, broad and active as possible. Some regions are considering a march to the rallies. This would be a great way of getting parents, governors, trade unionists and other campaigners against this government to join in. Activists should push for this to happen.

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North West

Platform

The key job now is to make this action as effective as possible, and use it as a platform for the two further regional strikes and the national strike planned for the autumn. That means starting now. There will be regional NASUWT and NUT rallies in defence of education in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff and Newcastle over the next

In the North West there should be joint NUT and NASUWT school meetings taking place in as many schools as possible to prepare to make the strike on 27 June as solid and active as possible. Those meetings should push for demonstrations in major towns and cities as part of the strike day. Across the North West school meetings should also start now to reach out to parents calling meetings, leafleting school gates or local houses and estates to win them to back the strike and the campaign to defend education from Gove. But the job of mobilising for the 27 is not simply one for the North West. Across England and Wales

we should be pushing for the maximum possible activity and solidarity on and around 27 June. Schools and local associations everywhere should meet in the next few weeks and twin with a school or association in the North West, to discuss what they can deliver in support of teachers there. That should mean sending messages of support, cards signed by all staff and the like in advance of the action. It should mean organising lunchtime protests in schools across the country on 27 June, and sending pictures of the protests to striking colleagues in the North West. It could mean organising a video or phone link with picket lines in the North West to a staffroom elsewhere.

a demonstration in defence of education on Saturday 29 June? Is it possible to raise the argument for good old fashioned solidarity strikes outside the North West on 27 June in some schools or areas?

Education and other fights over the curriculum are a crucial part of this.

Wider

The details will vary from area to area. What matters is to ensure the widest possible involvement of rank and file teachers in the discussions about what to do in the run up to and on 27 June, and then in doing whatever is agreed. So while the strike may be regional, the action should be national. By maximising the activity of rank and file teachers around 27 June we can ensure the union leaders do not back away from the planned regional and national strikes in the autumn. Delegation In many schools it will be And we will be better placed possible to ask heads if a to press for more national delegation could be released to action that will then be travel to demonstrations in the needed to beat Gove and his North West on 27 June, if other government. The tasks for teachers in teachers volunteer to cover their lessons on the day. the summer term do not stop In some regions there will at building the strikes and be reps and activists meetings solidarity actions. We need to take every called in the next few weeks opportunity to deepen the fight to discuss what else may be possible. against Gove on every front. Should there be an evening Initiatives like the Defend protest on 27 June in regions School History Campaign, A Charter For Primary outside the North West? Or

Details

It is also vital that we seek every opportunity to link the fight over education to the wider battle against this government. That means raising solidarity with strikes such as those called by the PCS civil servants union, and also actively backing campaigns such as those against the bedroom tax or benefit cuts. Every battle against the government is stronger when we link our struggles as we face a common enemy. Margaret Thatcher inflicted many defeats on workers in the 1980s by dividing those resisting her government. We should learn the lesson of our defeats then, and make sure we unite our struggles to defeat her successors today.

CAMPAIGN FOR BENEFIT JUSTICE 2nd SUMMIT, Saturday 11 May, London Cant pay wont pay Cant move wont move Cut rents, not benefits No evictions
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11 - 15 July, Central London A five day political festival Hosted by the SWP Speakers include Danny Dorling, Gigi Ibrahim, Alan Gibbons, Judith Orr, Louise Raw, Gilbert Achcar and Alex Callinicos Book online at www.marxismfestival.org.uk

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