NUT: Bolton Academy strikes show the way - PR9

NUT at Withins School in Bolton voted 94% in favour of strike action. The first day of this rolling programme of strike action, together with a protest rally and a flood of messages of support, have already led to the sponsors delaying their plans for a year. “I think they thought we might give up after this but it has strengthened our resolve,” says the school’s NUT rep Phil Roberts. Now Unison members at the Withins school have voted to join the strike with NUT and Unison members at two other schools affected by the academy proposals, asking to be balloted to join the strike action.

NUT and Unison activists across the country should use this to help focus the campaign for a united fightback over pay, workload and privatisation. We should host local meetings of the strikers, push for more ballots on these issues and demand national action from our union leaders. Wherever strike action does take place we should help organise pickets to close down the workplaces. The Bolton action shows that there is an appetite for action amongst the membership and that by organising at the rank and file level we can begin to organise ourselves.

Please send messages of support and donations to the campaign care of:

The Withins NUT group has set the next day of action for 18 June 2008.

Sat 04, October 2008 @ 12:57