We have received this fantastic letter from a National Executive member of the National Union of teachers, Pat Murphy - it's a call for joint, coordinated action against the government's attacks on education and pensions. "Dear comrades, During last year's student protests, occupations and walkouts, I coordinated a statement in support of these actions which was signed by a dozen members of the NUT National Executive, and forwarded it in solidarity to the NCAFC. (See here.) I think this helped promote the idea in our union that student action, even where independent of the official NUS structures, can and should be supported by the broader labour movement. I hope it boosted the confidence and morale of the student activists it reached. Since then a number of national public sector unions, including the NUT, have embarked on a campaign to defend our pension rights from the Tory government. Just as they seem happy to see young people live most of their working lives in debt, their pension proposals mean that we will have to live our old age in poverty. Our campaign to defend public sector pensions and win decent pensions for all includes industrial action, and began with the widespread national strikes on June 30th. There will be more national strike action this autumn together with a national lobby of parliament and other actions local and national. It would be be useful to those of us determined to fight the Coalition's cuts agenda if we could seek to co-ordinate our actions in the months ahead as far as practically possible. No specific date has yet been set for the next public sector strike but it seems most likely to be during the week beginning November 7th. I understand that discussions have been taking place about a national student day of action and demonstration around the same time - probably November 9th. Our organisations will be subject to different pressures and influenced by our own particular allies (in our case the other teacher and public sector unions) which makes precise co-ordination difficult - but we should attempt it as far as we can. It would be useful, as a first step, if NCAFC organisers were to consider approaching the Left Caucus of the NUT Executive and its main supporting organisations amongst NUT members (the Campaign for a Democratic and Fighting Union and the Socialist Teachers' Alliance) inviting them to discuss how we can best co-ordinate our actions to make them more effective. I can provide you with contact details. In solidarity, Patrick Murphy NUT National Executive member (Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield)"
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NUT National Exec member’s letter to the NCAFC: a call for joint action!
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