National Union of Teachers

NUT
Full name National Union of Teachers
Founded 1870
Members 376,208 (2014)[1]
Affiliation TUC, EI
Key people Christine Blower, General Secretary
Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary
Philipa Harvey, President
Office location London, England
Country England
Wales
Channel Islands
Isle of Man
Website Official website

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.[2] It is a member of the Trades Union Congress. The Union recruits only qualified teachers and those training to be qualified teachers into membership and currently has almost 400,000 members, making it the largest teachers' union in the United Kingdom.

The NUT campaigns on educational issues and working conditions for its members. Among the NUT's current policies are:

The NUT offers legal protection to its members. The NUT has established two financial services companies for teachers, Teachers Assurance in 1877 and the Teachers Building Society in 1966.

History

The NUT was established at a meeting at King's College London on 25 June 1870 as the National Union of Elementary Teachers (NUET) to represent all school teachers in England and Wales combining a number of local teacher associations which had formed across the country following the 1870 Education Act.[3] After toying with the idea of changing the name to the National Union of English Teachers, the name National Union of Teachers (NUT) was finally adopted at Annual Conference in April 1889.

In 1919, in response to an NUT referendum approving the principle of equal pay, a ginger group, the National Association of Men Teachers (NAMT), was formed within the NUT to further the interests of male teachers.[4] The NAMT changed its name in 1920 to the National Association of Schoolmasters (NAS) and seceded finally from the NUT in 1922. The secession came about indirectly following a decision at the NAS Conference that year to prohibit NAS members from continuing to also be members of the NUT after the 31 December 1922.[5] The NAS is now amalgamated into the NASUWT, the second-largest teaching union in the UK.

The NUT first established its offices at 7 Adam Street, Adelphi, London WC on the appointment of the first full-time Secretary in 1873. In 1889 it moved its headquarters to Bolton House, 67/71 Russell Square, London WC. In 1915, it moved its headquarters to Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD, where it has remained ever since,[6] except during the Second World War, when the NUT rented Toddington Manor, Gloucestershire in order to avoid air raids.

Striking teachers and public sector workers march down the Kingsway, London, flanked by police on June 30, as part of the 2011 United Kingdom anti-austerity protests.[7][8]

General Secretaries

The General Secretary is the leader of the NUT. Since 1989, the General Secretary has been elected by the union's membership, with each term lasting five years.[9]

Annual Conference

The NUT annual conference takes place every spring. The timing always coincides with Easter weekend: starting on Good Friday and ending on Easter Monday and takes place in various locations.

Fred and Anne Jarvis Award

Named after former General Secretary Fred Jarvis and his late wife, the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award was established in 2007 and is presented annually by the NUT to individuals other than NUT members who have campaigned tirelessly for all children and young people.[21] For a list of winners of the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award see List of Fred and Anne Jarvis Award winners.

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/452097/235T_2014.pdf
  2. ↑ NUT official website
  3. ↑ Tropp, A (1957). The School Teachers. London: Heinmemann.
  4. ↑ Simons, RA (1972). The Schoolmasters: The History of the NAS and of Education in its Time. London: NASUWT.
  5. ↑ Tropp, A (1957). The School Teachers: the growth of the teaching profession in England and Wales from 1800 to the present day. London: Heinemann.
  6. ↑ An Interim Catalogue of the Papers of the National Union of Teachers
  7. ↑
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ The Guardian article on the NUT
  10. ↑ Christine Blower profile
  11. ↑ Steve Sinnott profile
  12. ↑ Doug McAvoy profile
  13. ↑ Fred Jarvis profile
  14. ↑ Edward Britton profile
  15. ↑ Ronald Gould profile
  16. ↑ Frederick Mander profile
  17. ↑ Frank Goldstone profile
  18. ↑ James Yoxall profile
  19. ↑ Thomas Heller profile
  20. ↑ William Lawson profile
  21. ↑ "Memorial for Anne Jarvis at the Institute of Education" (PDF). Education Publishing Worldwide Limited. 21 September 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2012.

External links

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