A LOT HAS changed politically since the turn of the century. Unfortunately what has been largely consistent is a continuing decline in union density. 

Will the TUC Congress in Brighton be a place for our union leaderships to really debate out how we tackle the problems we face and how we try to address them as a movement? Or will the Congress will be a space where many worthy motions are passed but lacking serious discussion on what we need to do differently?

Some factors are outside of our control — AI and a changing employer landscape, to name but two — there are few more important battles than the one GMB is fighting at Amazon for recognition. 

However other barriers are within our control — the highly detrimental situation where in many sectors we have “competitive” trade unionism is one that is particularly taxing my own union, the National Education Union (NEU).

The NEU continues to stand for professional unity for education workers — “one union for all teachers.” Unity is strength after all and without the unity of NUT and ATL it is difficult to see how our recent pay strikes could have been so successful. Much can and should still be done to bring teachers into one union. 

However it is with school support staff that opportunities really arise for workers to expand trade union membership and bargaining strength in schools.

Unfortunately a motion on support staff brought by the NEU will now not be heard at Congress this year. That does not diminish the need for debate on this issue. Currently only a minority of support staff are in a union, a far lower density than among teachers. NEU support membership has been growing despite a TUC arrangement that prohibits us from actively recruiting and now stands beyond that of Unite and on a par with GMB membership levels (but still trailing Unison by a significant margin).

Crucially four-fifths of this growth has been among workers not previously a member of a union at all and the majority work in academy schools. Workers are joining because of the assertiveness and visibility of NEU school reps in the workplace. 

What the NEU does not have is national negotiating rights and it has actually been fined by the TUC when it has balloted its own members for strike action over the appallingly low levels of pay in the sector.

With a new support staff negotiating body, long campaigned for by Unison, Unite and GMB, being introduced by the government, we stand at a crossroads but one filled with opportunity to do things differently.

We could carry on with business as usual. The NEU is growing but blocked from national bargaining by the three recognised unions, facing fines from our own movement for organising. 

Delegates to NEU conferences have been making clear that if the choice is between TUC membership and school support members it is support members that come first. 

At the same time the currently recognised unions would be sitting at a new bargaining table but representing less than 50 per cent of the workforce. 

There is another way. Put aside “competitive” trade unionism and come up with ways of working together.

Essentially this poses the question, “are we putting the interests of workers first, or are we prioritising the short-term interests of our own organisations?”  

Shawn Fain, leader of the United Auto Workers in the US, has been clear that at the forefront of their successful strategy has been identifying the wider class interest. 

The successful stand-up strike in the car industry wasn’t just about the big three manufacturers. It was about the entire working class. Across the TUC we need to take inspiration from that approach.

What avoiding competitive recruitment looks like remains to be seen. I would want everything from joint campaigns and membership drives to full joint membership on the table. 

The NEU — and NUT before it — had and continues to have such systems successfully in place with other sister unions, albeit on a far smaller scale than what is possible with support staff.  

Unison already has an NHS arrangement, “Managers in Partnership,” with the FDA as a possible model. I believe the NEU leadership is absolutely committed to greater levels of membership and organisation of support staff as a group of workers. 

This is what I believe should be the priority, not simply greater levels of NEU membership or concern about which particular people attend national meetings.

So let’s imagine something better. GMB’s experience in “green field” organising, Unison’s size and national clout, Unite’s industrial campaigns focus could be allied with the NEU’s strength in schools and dedicated education focus. 

Surely this would make the position of support staff stronger than it is now and that should be our focus. 

The greater levels of membership that this would bring would benefit all the unions involved, and most importantly give the best chance to deliver the improvements for these vital workers in our education system.