IT’S conference season again and the National Education Union (NEU) is back in Harrogate. If you’ve not been, Harrogate is a lovely spa town in North Yorkshire that was once voted the happiest place to live in Britain three years in a row.

But delegates aren’t here to sample the spring water or take a medicinal bath; they are there to set the agenda of the union for another year.

The union heads to conference having just finished an indicative ballot over pay and funding. Members voted to reject the government’s pay offer of 2.8 per cent for all teachers and leaders in England. This below-inflation, unfunded pay rise will do more harm than good.

The electronic preliminary ballot asked two questions. Would members accept the offer and would they be willing to take strike action? Some 93.7 per cent of members who responded voted to reject the offer and 83.4 per cent said they would be willing to take action to secure an increased pay award.

Unfortunately, despite 134,487 members voting in the poll, this added up to only 47.2 per cent of those eligible to vote meaning that under the government’s anti-union laws members would not legally be able to take action (had these been a real vote).

The union’s elected executive will now have to meet and a motion will come to conference with a plan for next steps. This motion will be put to conference delegates and voted on, no doubt whatever the contents of the motion there will be numerous amendments to also be considered. We will have to wait and see what the contents of this motion will be. It could call for a move to full ballot despite the turnout or it could be to try again next year in the hope that we can improve turnout.

Along with the usual motions on assessment, class sizes and workload, there are a number of potentially spicy motions thrown into the mix that will no doubt stir up debate and probably have the right-wing press frothing at the mouth.

International issues are always sure to cause a lot of interest. The NEU has a strong tradition of taking strong stances on international issues — and rightly so. Although the purpose of the union is to protect the rights of education workers the purpose of trade unionists should always be to stand up for the rights of everyone.

The conference will debate motions that take strong stances on international issues such as the conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine, including calling for an arms embargo with Israel.

While we all want peace in Ukraine, the motion fails to note the role of Nato expansionism in the conflict and supports arms proliferation rather than seeking peace. After years of war what the people of Ukraine need is an end to the conflict not more needless deaths and destruction.

The Palestine solidarity motion is an absolutely essential motion to pass despite the fact that the right-wing press and parties will equate Palestinian solidarity with anti-semitism. The public, in light of the constant genocidal actions of Israel, must have surely grown wise to these tricks by now.

What is definitely missing is a Cuba solidarity motion. As readers may remember, I have recently returned from a delegation to Cuba where I saw the amazing work Cuba does under very difficult circumstances. The outgoing Biden government in its dying days lifted some of the economic sanctions against the island but the future under Trump looks bleak.

Added to the illegal blockade is a number of problems caused by recent earthquakes and hurricanes. Although Britain has repeatedly voted against the illegal US blockade Cuba still needs all the solidarity it can get. Cuban unions have sent two delegates to the union and I know they will be made to feel welcome.

There are a number of very positive motions addressing racial equality, women’s rights and disability rights, as well as a motion condemning Reform UK as racist and highlighting the need to challenge the far right. While I agree with these points I hope some comrades get the opportunity to speak to these motions so that we might frame these struggles primarily within the context of class.

Once again we see the call for professional unity within education. I was lucky enough to have seen the formation of the NEU from its two predecessor unions and I genuinely believe that what we need is for further amalgamations.

Unity is strength, we have seen how the government seeks to draw divisions between the unions and during the 2023 strike action we would have been in a much stronger position had we been formed into one single union.

As delegates gather in Harrogate, the education sector stands at a crossroads. Facing funding cuts, privatisation threats and a government seemingly intent on undermining teachers, the NEU’s role has never been more vital. This conference is not just about internal union matters; it’s about the future of education itself. The debates and decisions made here will have far-reaching consequences for teachers, students and society as a whole.

Robert Poole is assistant district secretary for Bolton NEU and editor of the journal Education for Tomorrow.