UK
Rolling school strikes feared as hard-Left activist leads teachers’ union raceTHAT'S HOW THEY STRIKE IN SCOTLAND
Louisa Clarence-Smith
Louisa Clarence-Smith
THE TORY LOVING TELEGRAPH
Sat, 21 January 2023
Daniel Kebede - Guy Smallman/Getty Images
A hard-Left activist is leading the race to take over the leadership of the country’s biggest teachers’ union, raising the prospect of rolling school strikes later this year.
Daniel Kebede, who works as a teacher in the north-east of England, is campaigning to become the next general secretary of the National Education Union.
Mr Kebede, a militant trade unionist in his mid-30s, has led and joined protests on issues including racism, the Government’s response to refugees, and the pro-Palestine movement.
The Momentum-supporting Corbynite’s campaign pledges to create a “united, campaigning union” that must be mobilised “in its entirety” to “take on this shambolic Government”.
He has urged teachers across the country to take strike action, saying: “We need an inflation plus pay rise that is fully funded. We don’t need more tax cuts for the rich. It’s time for the Government to listen.”
Activists for 101 NEU districts have declared their support for Mr Kebede ahead of the general secretary election, which begins on Feb 6 and runs until March 31. He is running against Niamh Sweeney, a sixth form college teacher and Labour councillor in Cambridge who is seen as a moderate.
The winning candidate will take over in September for a five-year term, replacing Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, who have served as joint general secretaries of the NEU since it was formed in 2017.
Under Ms Bousted and Mr Courtney, there have been no national NEU strikes – but this week the NEU revealed that it has met legal thresholds for members to strike over pay in England and Wales on seven dates, starting on Feb 1.
Mr Kebede said: “My aim is to make the National Education Union strong and influential enough that it doesn’t need to take strike action by building on the success of our current general secretaries and by reaching out to other unions such as NASUWT.
“However, if our members are fed up with pay cuts, funding erosion, excessive workload and not being valued by the Government and want to take action, I will back them.”
A Newcastle Labour party source who knows Mr Kebede said: “In terms of the encouragement that someone like Daniel would give to their membership, I’m certain that he would have a very harsh stance towards a Conservative government and I’m certain he would push for industrial action during disputes.”
A source close to several school leaders in England said: “If Daniel gets elected, it’s not hard to see how you could envisage the prospect of rolling strikes.”
Mr Kebede is the former partner of Laura Pidcock, the ex-Labour MP for North West Durham, who quit the party’s ruling body last year and said it had become “hostile territory for socialists” under Sir Keir Starmer.
He quit the Labour Party in 2020 and has voiced his support for members of the Northern Independence Party, a democratic socialist party that seeks to make Northern England an independent nation and has urged voters to “reject the Westminster establishment”.
Union leaders met officials in the Department for Education on Friday in an attempt to resolve the dispute over pay and working conditions.
But Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said after the talks that he was not hopeful about an improvement to this year’s pay award and warned that “the prospects appear gloomy for next year’s pay award too”.
A Department for Education spokesman said that officials “held constructive discussions” with union leaders.
Sat, 21 January 2023
Daniel Kebede - Guy Smallman/Getty Images
A hard-Left activist is leading the race to take over the leadership of the country’s biggest teachers’ union, raising the prospect of rolling school strikes later this year.
Daniel Kebede, who works as a teacher in the north-east of England, is campaigning to become the next general secretary of the National Education Union.
Mr Kebede, a militant trade unionist in his mid-30s, has led and joined protests on issues including racism, the Government’s response to refugees, and the pro-Palestine movement.
The Momentum-supporting Corbynite’s campaign pledges to create a “united, campaigning union” that must be mobilised “in its entirety” to “take on this shambolic Government”.
He has urged teachers across the country to take strike action, saying: “We need an inflation plus pay rise that is fully funded. We don’t need more tax cuts for the rich. It’s time for the Government to listen.”
Activists for 101 NEU districts have declared their support for Mr Kebede ahead of the general secretary election, which begins on Feb 6 and runs until March 31. He is running against Niamh Sweeney, a sixth form college teacher and Labour councillor in Cambridge who is seen as a moderate.
The winning candidate will take over in September for a five-year term, replacing Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, who have served as joint general secretaries of the NEU since it was formed in 2017.
Under Ms Bousted and Mr Courtney, there have been no national NEU strikes – but this week the NEU revealed that it has met legal thresholds for members to strike over pay in England and Wales on seven dates, starting on Feb 1.
Mr Kebede said: “My aim is to make the National Education Union strong and influential enough that it doesn’t need to take strike action by building on the success of our current general secretaries and by reaching out to other unions such as NASUWT.
“However, if our members are fed up with pay cuts, funding erosion, excessive workload and not being valued by the Government and want to take action, I will back them.”
A Newcastle Labour party source who knows Mr Kebede said: “In terms of the encouragement that someone like Daniel would give to their membership, I’m certain that he would have a very harsh stance towards a Conservative government and I’m certain he would push for industrial action during disputes.”
A source close to several school leaders in England said: “If Daniel gets elected, it’s not hard to see how you could envisage the prospect of rolling strikes.”
Mr Kebede is the former partner of Laura Pidcock, the ex-Labour MP for North West Durham, who quit the party’s ruling body last year and said it had become “hostile territory for socialists” under Sir Keir Starmer.
He quit the Labour Party in 2020 and has voiced his support for members of the Northern Independence Party, a democratic socialist party that seeks to make Northern England an independent nation and has urged voters to “reject the Westminster establishment”.
Union leaders met officials in the Department for Education on Friday in an attempt to resolve the dispute over pay and working conditions.
But Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said after the talks that he was not hopeful about an improvement to this year’s pay award and warned that “the prospects appear gloomy for next year’s pay award too”.
A Department for Education spokesman said that officials “held constructive discussions” with union leaders.
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