{"id":2794,"date":"2022-10-01T10:10:34","date_gmt":"2022-10-01T09:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/jun2023\/?p=2794"},"modified":"2023-06-29T15:28:22","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T14:28:22","slug":"andreabradley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/andreabradley\/","title":{"rendered":"General Secretary’s Address"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/strong>t\u2019s an honour and a privilege to address the EIS AGM for the very first time as General Secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been in many situations this past year that I\u2019d never in my life expected to find myself\u2026 but this today definitely tops them all. The honour of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past year has been a trial by fire. A true test of the collective strength, solidarity and courage of the EIS and its members. And it\u2019s a trial\u2026a test\u2026that we\u2019ve come through with flying colours- that vibrant pink and green of the Pay Attention campaign!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As activists you\u2019ve agitated, organised, educated and energised out of your skins. Picket lines, placards and campaign parties – you did it all. And you did it with humour and gusto and style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At rallies, on the telly and on the radio, you brilliantly articulated the rightness and justness of the teachers\u2019 pay claim – never flustered by an awkward question, never being backed into a corner, never losing your cool\u2026always professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And by telling it like it was, with honesty and integrity and conviction, you won over the public, you won over the parents, and you won over the presenters on the BBC and on STV and even Sky and GB News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were those that doubted us. Those that hoped, even predicted, that EIS members wouldn\u2019t turn out in their tens of thousands to vote yes to strike in the Autumn months in our consultative ballot and then the clincher – our statutory ballot. But we were ballot ready, organised, and they were wrong!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You stood proudly, bravely, shoulder to shoulder with your colleagues – teachers, IMTS, Educational Psychologists\u2026all taking action together when the time came for the very first day of strike action over pay in 40 years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade unionists don\u2019t resent one another\u2019s wins – we celebrate them. We know that an injury to one is an injury to all.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first ever strike action over teachers\u2019 pay in Scotland since that historic trade union tug of war with Thatcher. That tug of war that we won and that we still remember and celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right from the outset of this Campaign, we\u2019ve had to dig deep, and fight a battle that we shouldn\u2019t have had to fight in the first place. Fair pay should be a given in a fair work nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For five months\u2026five months\u2026COSLA and the Scottish Government dangled an offer of 5% in front of teachers. They dressed it up a wee bit differently the second time it came in\u2026dressed it up as an emperor\u2019s new clothes of an offer – hoping that would fob us off, wear us down and loosen our resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when the emperor\u2019s new clothes and the smoke and mirrors didn\u2019t work, they tried shaming teachers. Implied that teachers were being greedy, they were overclaiming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They tried that age-old tactic of divide and conquer – of looking to play one group of workers off against another. That\u2019s a tactic that\u2019s founded on fear- fear of the solidarity amongst trade unionists that transcends union boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade unionists don\u2019t resent one another\u2019s wins – we celebrate them. We know that an injury to one is an injury to all. We know that unity is our greatest strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EIS does the democratic bidding of our members – not what happens to suit COSLA and the Scottish Government or anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was our democratic decision-making that led to the targeted strikes in key constituencies. Full credit to the members in Glasgow Southside, Perth and Kinross (North), Dunfermline and Clydebank – Milngavie for carrying out those three extra days of action after the 16 days of rolling strikes across all 32 local authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those three days really turned the screws on the key decision-makers, shone a harsh spotlight on their dither and delay, their selective use of statistics and their spin, and the glaring gap between their rhetoric of Fair Work and the reality of their refusal to pay teachers fairly for the essential work that they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without a doubt, it was the threat of another three days of those targeted strikes, including in a key Dumfries and Galloway constituency, that brought the Deputy First Minster to the table\u2026 finally with the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it came to the ballot, 90% of members agreed that the offer was worth accepting- still a real terms pay cut but a decent offer in the circumstances and one that gave us a stepping stone on our undifferentiated pay restoration journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we will continue that journey. Six months from now, we\u2019ll be submitting our next pay claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From now until then we\u2019ll be keeping an eye on the lie of the land, building our narrative, strengthening the alliances that we\u2019ve already built, and looking to build new ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the other thing that we\u2019ll be doing is blasting the Scottish Government and anyone else who tries to blame teachers and the teachers\u2019 pay deal for any disgraceful decisions that they make to cut the funding to FE and HE, or to roll back on commitments to free school meals expansion, or to stop funding for Masters\u2019 Level learning programmes for teachers. Teachers\u2019 pay should<\/p>\n\n\n\n

have nothing to do with any of these things. Education must be properly funded and that includes paying the people who deliver it properly.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We made some good ground in the Pay Attention campaign. We keep our eyes on the pay restoration prize and we stay campaign- strong. Because we know the value of teachers in delivering quality education for our children and young people. We know the value of education as a social good. That\u2019s why at this AGM we\u2019ll be launching a new national campaign for proper funding for education as a vital and valuable public service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll be using every ounce of that very well-toned campaigning muscle as we pivot to tackle the scandalous underfunding of ASN, your crippling workload, the boundless bureaucracy that swallows up your time, and the health and safety risks that are intensifying daily amidst large class sizes and lack of additional support, including for mental health, in the aftermath of the pandemic and a decade of austerity before that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colleagues, an increase in violent incidents and distressed behaviour are the consequence of not listening to the voices of teachers as they\u2019ve called for more support for children and young people whose mental health is fragile\u2026 and as the EIS and others have called for more support for teachers and other school staff whose wellbeing continues to take a battering as schools struggle with Covid recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve seen teacher numbers fall overall for the first time in five years. This is despite the manifesto promise of class contact reduction and the promise of additional teachers. The recent Scottish Government commitment to protect teacher numbers is absolutely essential and they need to stick to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller class sizes must still be in our sights. In schools all over the country, teachers continue to drown in paperwork that contributes nothing to the quality of learning and teaching in their classrooms, and yet dysfunctional behaviours driven by hierarchy and accountability agendas continue to demand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need real, honest reform that finally gives us a qualifications body that serves the needs of learners and the teachers and lecturers who support them. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve pushed and pushed and pushed over the past year\u2019s work on education reform for the EIS to be at the table on behalf of our members. And we\u2019ve succeeded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s safe to say, colleagues, that all through the Pay Attention campaign and even since the pay deal was signed, the EIS hasn\u2019t stopped. Our staff haven\u2019t stopped. They\u2019ve barely paused for breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve continued their phenomenal effort and commitment on behalf of members, everywhere in the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As General Secretary, I\u2019ve seen more of that work first hand and have been massively impressed by my colleagues\u2019 expertise and their willingness to help one another as they look to deliver what our members need. They are the bee\u2019s best knees, in my book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve played our part in fighting against the Tories\u2019 disgraceful anti-strike legislation. This anti-strike legislation has zero to do with protecting public services and everything to do with a right-wing government led by millionaires attacking the rights of working people to act collectively. The EIS will continue the fight to protect our right – our workers\u2019 right, our human right, to strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EIS will continue campaigning until every single child from Primary 1 to Sixth Year has the daily dignity and the health and wellbeing and the social benefits of a meal at school that\u2019s free of cost and free of stigma.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Because history – and our very recent history at that – has taught us over and over that our right to take strike action is what delivers the outcomes that our members need as workers, as citizens and as human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s part of our continuing fight-back against poverty and against the neoliberal ideology that\u2019s founded on the belief that profit is prioritised above people. An ideology whose toxicity seeps right into our public service provision here in Scotland – including into education across all sectors. An ideology and an associated economy that sees ordinary people, ordinary workers, be the collateral damage in the race to amass billions in wealth for a privileged few who\u2019re already drowning in money that they can\u2019t and largely don\u2019t spend in our economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That thousands of children are going to school across Scotland, not only hungry but malnourished in the truest medical sense of the word, is frankly immoral – and it\u2019s utterly unacceptable. That\u2019s why the EIS has partnered so strongly with the STUC Women\u2019s Committee on its Food for Thought campaign- supported by the full STUC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EIS will continue campaigning until every single child from Primary 1 to Sixth Year has the daily dignity and the health and wellbeing and the social benefits of a meal at school that\u2019s free of cost and free of stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we don\u2019t, we\u2019ll see more hunger and food insecurity, more health inequalities, more mental health anguish, more poverty and poverty-related stigma across our society and in our education establishments and that\u2019ll amount to poorer experiences and outcomes and fewer life chances for the poorest of our young citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to keep fighting together for decent public services, including education, and decent public sector pay and conditions as part of that. We need to see more walking the walk on equity, fair work and on social justice and equality when it comes to support for education from our government and employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The working conditions of our teachers and lecturers are the learning conditions of our children, young people and students. We need both to be much, much better. And we\u2019ll continue to fight for that as a union. A union that continues to grow even stronger for sound education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for me\u2026I\u2019ll get on with my bit of it. And every single day will be an honour. This is an edited extract of the General Secretary\u2019s speech. Full text available at www.eis.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an honour and a privilege to address the EIS AGM for the very first time as General Secretary. I\u2019ve been in many situations this past year that I\u2019d never in my life expected to find myself\u2026 but this today definitely tops them all. The honour of my life. The past year has been a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mainfeatures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2794"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3136,"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794\/revisions\/3136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sej.org.uk\/AGM2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}