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Teachers' leader Christine Blower told Tory Education Secretary Michael Gove to turn-up to talks over his own reforms yesterday or face renewed school strikes.
Neither Tory Education Secretary Michael Gove nor Lib Dem Schools Minister David Laws have shown up at meetings to discuss the war they are waging on teachers’ pay and conditions.
National Union of Teachers (NUT) general secretary Ms Blower was clear that the no-shows could not continue if further action was to be avoided.
Her challenge to the ministers came as a YouGov poll for her union showed massive public opposition to Mr Gove’s reforms and sympathy for the teachers’s campaign to defend education.
Over 80 per cent of parents believed state schools should employ only qualified teachers, while almost the same number backed a national pay system for teachers.
And 65 per cent of parents supported teachers’ right to take strike action in order to stop Mr Gove’s unpopular policies.
Strike action in June is set to be approved at NUT conference today ß and members of fellow teaching union NASUWT will debate their next move at their Birmingham conference on Sunday.
Ms Blower said she was keen to take joint action again with the NUT’s “historic partner,” which is led by Chris Keates.
But Ms Blower told the press the strikes could be avoided if Mr Gove and Mr Laws attended talks between now and June.
“We will be expecting the Secretary of State to come to some and the poor, beleaguered David Laws to turn up at a few,” she said.
“We do want to engage with that process. We want Michael Gove and David Laws to engage with that process.”
There are “things that would cost nothing but sent the right message” that the ministers could do to prevent strikes, she explained.
Department for Education (DfE) officials sent to talks with unions have so been instructed to discuss only how to implement government reforms — not their substance.
When the Star asked the department whether the ministers were willing to attend talks in person, a spokeswoman said it depended on what unions wanted to discuss.
