date: April 7 2004

embargo: 15:00 hours Wednesday April 7 2004

Attention: education correspondents


Brendan Barber speaks to ATL conference

Text of speech by TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber to the ATL Conference,

Bournemouth International Centre, 7 April, 15:00

Check against delivery

I am really pleased to be with you today and grateful for the chance to make a contribution to your debate.

You've got plenty on your own agenda this week, but I've been particularly delighted with the contribution that ATL members have made to the wider work of the TUC since you have joined us only five years ago.

And a particular word of thanks to Mary who has really made her mark since joining you -- and indeed joining the TUC General Council. She has been a strikingly effective and energetic ambassador for the union in all her TUC work.

What I would like to do in my remarks today is, first, to address some of the key issues in your world of education, and then to say something about some of the major challenges facing the whole trade union Movement.

But to begin with education, where the Government’s end of term report shows high marks in some areas, but poor performance in others.

In the positive column is the Government’s strong commitment to funding, with confirmation from the Chancellor in the budget that education will be one of the key priorities in the next spending round.

The Chancellor confounded his critics who had been predicting that education was going to have to tighten its belt.

Instead, he announced an extra £8.5 billion by 2008 and a range of important initiatives, such as a commitment to modernise all secondary school buildings over the next 10 years.

The Budget decision also highlighted the extent to which the Government is linking investment in education with its wider economic and social priorities.

Of course, we know from bitter experience that extra money from the centre does not always guarantee delivery on the ground.

So it is incredibly important that we do not see a repeat of last year’s problems with school budgets.

The Government’s announcement in the autumn to provide more funding for schools and to establish a four per cent increase for each pupil is a sensible approach.

But it must remain vigilant that this has the desired effect and that school budgets are safeguarded.

For the education system to deliver it needs the funding to do the job.

But it also has to support and value the teachers and all the other members of the workforce. And that is why the agreement on workload and remodelling, which was welcomed by our Congress, is so vitally important, and why the Government side of the deal has to be delivered in full.

This is an incredibly important agreement for a number of reasons.

First, because it is addressing an issue of crucial concern to every teacher. We all know of the damage caused by long hours working, and the evidence of the stress that has been caused, highlighted by the recent findings of the Teacher Support Network.

Last year 30,000 teachers -- one in every 15 -- sought the support of the network. Tackling teacher workload was long overdue.

Second, this agreement has properly recognised the importance of the whole school team. And as staff other than teachers take on greater responsibilities it is absolutely essential that the funding comes through to enable them to be properly rewarded too.

And third, the process by which this agreement was reached was through a real partnership, with the DfES ministers and officials sitting down with all the relevant unions on a sustained basis to try to work issues through.

Charles Clarke and David Miliband deserve credit for engaging with the unions in a way that I cannot recall ever seeing happen previously. And that partnership has been maintained as the agreement is now being implemented.

Colleagues this process was about really charting a new pathway in managing change in our public services.

I invested a lot of effort in persuading Ministers that negotiating seriously and in detail with the unions was the right way.

We all know what had happened previously - decisions handed down with the unions left playing catch up on details around the edges.

Engaging on all the details has been no soft option for any of the parties. Taking time to understand other perspectives and not just making speeches about your own position, being prepared to face up to hard choices -balancing the gains with the issues that didn’t go exactly how you wanted - those have been the dilemmas for everyone involved.

Not easy for sure but far preferable to the take it or leave it school of industrial relations and public service reform and I commend ATL for the principled and yet practical way you played your part.

You were playing for big stakes in your own sector, but also in carving out a new model for how public service reform should be handled across the board. It is tragic that some others have not yet learned the necessary lessons, with announcements about tens of thousands of civil service jobs for the axe coming out of the blue.

It is no secret of course that the NUT and UCAC at the end of that process felt unable to sign up to the agreement and I deeply regret that it wasn't possible to establish a united trade union view of the issues involved.

I very much regret too that the non-signatory unions are not being properly engaged by the Government as follow-on issues fall to be determined.

But, in addition, I have been deeply disturbed that the divisions between the unions have been so apparent. Trade unionism as a whole is the loser if a picture is created of rancour and antagonism.

It may be thought of as inauspicious given these current stresses and strains, but I remain a firm and unyielding advocate of the benefits that would flow from professional unity, and I see the issue on your agenda again today.

Teachers, whatever union they belong to, face the same set of problems and challenges -- the determination to win the proper respect for their professional role, the overwhelming need for a fair system of rewards so that the profession can recruit and retain effectively.

Of course each of our unions have a separate history. There are differences in outlook on some issues, and style and culture.

Those could not be set aside overnight and I would not advocate that.

But a serious effort to overcome current differences and work more closely together would, I am convinced, pay serious dividends in the potential influence that could be exerted on public policy, and could eventually pave the way to organisational unity in due course.

So whatever the problems I will certainly be doing my best to try to build effective joint working between the teaching unions, indeed all the education unions, wherever I can.

There are some major policy debates developing in which our voice needs to be heard loud and clear.

The ongoing 14-19 reform agenda for example is bringing about huge changes and unions are having to consider the implications for young people studying in both schools and FE colleges.

This is of particular interest to your union representing, as you do, employees in both sectors.

The Tomlinson Working Group is setting out an agenda for change that is set to transform the education of our young people in the years to come. The trade union Movement has broadly welcomed the Tomlinson report. We know that it’s true that lots of pupils do very well out of the current system by achieving good A levels and progressing to university.

But their success tends to mask the fact that over a quarter of our young people currently abandon learning by the time they are 17. This is one of the worst records among all the OECD countries and has to be tackled urgently on both economic and social grounds.

The academic/vocational divide in our schools is as deep as ever. The OFSTED report published last week showed again the lack of progress in encouraging young people to mix vocational and academic courses.

The Tomlinson report recognises that we need to meet the needs of all young people and raise the quality and status of vocational education in our secondary schools if we are going to make any real progress.

However, it is important that these reforms are tested out and gradually phased in. And the Government must consult closely with unions as any changes to the current system are planned.

President, there are host of key issues in the education world you have to grapple with. But let me offer some final observations about the wider challenges facing the trade union Movement across-the-board.

Last year, for the first time for a quarter of a century, the proportion of the working population represented by trade unions edged upwards. That was great news, but we have plenty of work to do to turn that into a decisive upwards surge.

New information and consultation rights are to be introduced from next year onwards and I hope they will boost our efforts to grow trade unionism.

The inspiring work of the growing army of trade union learning reps - developing a powerful new union role in opening up learning opportunities for members - is also demonstrating the value of trade unionism in a way that will help us build our strength.

We face an organisational challenge for sure, but a political challenge too. We are probably only a year or so away from the next election. ATL is not affiliated to any political party, and neither for that matter is the TUC. But that certainly doesn’t mean we are disinterested, and I see if as our job to campaign hard for an agenda to make a difference for the better in the world of work.

In recent weeks we finalised the TUC response to the Labour Party’s consultation exercise labelled the Big Conversation.

And we set out the case there for a positive workplace agenda -

  • giving people a real voice at work;

  • winning real improvements in work-life balance and all those things, like working time, that impact hugely on the quality of life;

  • opening up opportunities for skills and life-long learning;

  • and last, but certainly not least, a new framework to build confidence that decent pensions will be available for everyone - and without requiring everyone to work until they drop!

These are issues that are of huge importance wherever and however you work and it’s the TUC’s job - with support from all our affiliates - to campaign hard for progress.

President, thanks again for giving me the chance to speak to you this afternoon. I’m really grateful for the support ATL now gives to the TUC in all our work and in turn let me pledge the TUC’s backing for all your work on behalf of your members.

Thanks for listening.

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Press release (2,000 words) issued 7 Apr 2004

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