KENNETH Bakers education reform bill poses the greatest threat to state education 1945. To defeat it the widest mobilisation of the labour movement is necessary, but this is not the course of the present NUT leadership.
By Ray Sirotkin Lambeth NUT Prior to the extremely succesful strike action in London on 9 February, Neil Fletcher, ILEA: leader, wrote Fred Jarvis, general secretary • 200 UT, pleading with him to call oft the action.
This pathetic call from the leader of ILEA, who is clearly incapable of fighting was rightly nored by the NUT leadership at that time.
A rally of over 4000 teachers heard from health workers me comino fight against the Tories, this was followed by lobbying of London Labour MPs for support to those in struggle as well as parliamentary oppostuli lo Danci.
A springboard for achon has been bult. vet in stead of accelerating this the NUT leadership has not to date sanctioned strike ac tion on 8 March, thetłay of action Called involving other ILEA trade unions LICI OWil survival.
lained by the NUT leade! shin's total opposition the leadership of the NUT in inner London. The ILTA leadership is the most leit wing the union and has led militani action in defence of London jobs, living standards and level of service provision.
Alongside this the NUT takes pride in being a 'nonaffiliated' union which is 'non-political. The union cannot avoid itself in politics, and the rea interpretation of this 'non political' status is that it has a strategy of allving. witt what it sees as 'progressive forces from all parties, including the Liberal Party.
Ference por Paddy Paddy Ashdowm speaking, gave him a full page in The Teacher (the newspaper). Not surprisingly, Ashdown used the space given to attack any notion teachers, rather than attackIng Dakel As always with such 'popular frontist' strategies, real possibilities of mass action abandonned in oraer lo nola logenel al with the bourgeoisic This is why the NUT has so far refused to call for strike action along with other • trade unions i on 8 March, Only mass action, , not an alliance with the Liberal Party and Paddy Ashdown, That is -should be nrenared on a condon-wide basis for 8 March.
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