The NUT and ASCL have joined forces to create a ‘super-union’ for teachers across the UK. In Wales it will have around 20,000 members. Here, NUT Cymru policy officer Owen Hathaway outlines the changes he says will benefit everyone in education
The announcement on March 22 that the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers had voted to amalgamate was a historic moment for the education sector in Wales and the UK.
Rightfully described by the NUT General Secretary Kevin Courtney as a “game changer in the education landscape”, the new union, the National Education Union (NEU) will be home to more than 450,000 members.
The NEU will come into existence on September 1 and will be the fourth-largest trade union in Britain. The union will represent the majority of teachers and education professionals and will comfortably be the biggest education union in Wales, Britain and indeed Europe.
It is a fantastic result for members of both unions and for education. For too long, education ministers have played divide and rule among teachers’ unions, particularly in a Westminster context where pay and conditions are involved. This landmark coming together marks the beginning of the end of that. The NUT and ATL both have proud histories but, speaking with one voice, the new union will be a stronger force standing up for education, teachers, school and further education staff and the children they teach.
Professional unity is a long-held aspiration of the NUT. This amalgamation is a significant development in that aspiration.
Members of the ATL and NUT will see a far greater level of support. The combined expertise and commitment of the two unions will build better resources and improved access to continued professional development, as well as allowing for stronger guidance, advice and a level of representation that cannot be matched anywhere else and that has never previously existed within the sector.
Members of the National Education Union will have greater strength to tackle issues of workload and concern at their school or college, while nationally the union will be a more important voice in representing the sector at large.
Pupils and parents will see a more