Over the weekend of May 28th to 30th the National Association of
teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) held its annual
conference in Eastbourne. Domestic issues dominated the agenda as is
usual and normal for a trade union conference, but the last session of
the conference on Monday morning allowed time for the union to debate
and vote on international issues.
On the domestic front the issue of merging with the Association of
University Teachers (AUT) occupied a mammoth four and a half hour
session on Saturday afternoon. Despite misgivings raised by many
delegates on the issue of procedures leading up to the discussion on
the merger and the question of democratic accountability in the newly
formed union, the majority of the conference favoured moving towards a
merger in the hope that issues of democracy can be resolved after the
merger takes place. Once merged, the new union of approximately 120,000
members will be the biggest lecturers union in the world and will
therefore have more muscle in the Further Education (FE) and Higher
Education (HE) sectors to fight for better pay and conditions for its
members and increases in funding for post-16 education.
Pensions also played a prominent role with the recent announcements
of the government to attack the pension rights of civil servants and
teachers. Conference was in favour of a public sector alliance to
oppose these plans including the use of strike action. It was pointed
out to conference however that attacks on pensions have occurred and
are occurring across the industrialised world as profit rates on
capital invested falls and the capitalist class internationally
pressurises governments to cut the social wage of working people in
order that more government funds can be diverted to subsidising a
bankrupt capitalist system.
In Britain, for example, the Labour Government wants to cut pension
entitlement for civil servants by claiming that pension funds are in
deficit. Yet according to the Inland Revenue between £30 and £80
billion in taxes are lost each year through tax avoidance by the rich.
In addition the government subsidises “risk taking” in the public
sector through PFI where profits of 20% and 30% are guaranteed to
capitalist investors at a time when the average rate of return on
investment stands at 3%. Furthermore, pension holidays in the 1990s
saved companies the sum of £18.75 million with 94% of the savings going
to reduce employers’ contributions to the funds and 6% to reduce
employees’ contributions.
The scale of public subsidies to the rich and powerful is
highlighted by the privatised railways. Under nationalisation the
public subsidy to the railways averaged £1bn per year. Under
privatisation the subsidy is running at more than £2bn a year and, in
addition, £17bn of taxpayers’ money is being spent on capital
investment in the sector. The lesson is that under capitalism the state
will be forced to use money collected in taxes for the purpose of
subsidising the rich to boost their falling profit levels. This is the
reason for the attacks on pensions and other areas of social provision.
A unified public sector alliance using strike action will temporarily
hold the government back, but only as political fight against these
plans will hold out the chance of ensuring that social wealth is used
for the benefit of those who create wealth, working people through
their labour.
Pay was also much to the fore given that only 30% of colleges
covering 50% of lecturers had implemented a two-year pay modernisation
deal that had been agreed with the employers back in August 2003,
almost two year ago! Conference recognised that a “hot autumn” is on
the cards with strike action likely over this year’s claim for 7% to
achieve parity with school teaching colleagues that was promised by the
government for August 2004. In addition further strikes are also
planned to get the full implementation nationally of the August 2003
deal.
When salary rises are agreed in the school sectors, the government
funds them. When such rises are agreed in the FE sector they have to be
funded by internal savings involving a reduction of provision or jobs
in some areas in order to try and fund the agreed rises. Given the
continual chronic under funding in the sector many colleges are
financially unable to pay the rises. The conference recognised that
only by an increase in government funding would it be possible to meet
the promised rises, yet the government is planning further cuts next
year and the year after. What is not realised by many is that the FE
sector educates and trains more 16-19 year olds than schools and more
students than universities, yet it is the worst- funded sector of the
three even getting less funds per student, such as A levels, for doing
exactly the same work. The future in the sector looks bleak with a
whole series of strikes being planned for the new term in the autumn.
On the international front, the conference passed motions condemning
the continuing imprisonment after 21 years of the leaders of Grenada
who were overthrown by a US invasion. On Iraq conference called for the
immediate withdrawal of occupying forces and condemned the continual
plundering of the resources by the occupying armies.
On Venezuela the conference passed a motion unanimously that
congratulated the advances made by the Bolivarian Revolution, warned of
the dangers posed by the USA and the financial oligarchy in Venezuela,
agreed to join with the NUJ in organising a trade union delegation to
the country in solidarity with the revolution, and to support a
delegation to the World Youth Festival in Caracas in August.
AT the NATFHE Conference in May 2004, delegates had agreed to
affiliate to the Hands off Venezuela Campaign and since that time the
union has given the campaign some excellent support. The decision this
year has reaffirmed the commitment of the union to the campaign. Given
the lies and distortions in the capitalist press, delegates were eager
to learn more about the events in Venezuela and more than 40 copies of
the pamphlet “The ABC of Bolivarianism” were sold over the weekend.
