Helen Connor, EIS
Presidential Address
120th STUC Annual
Congress
Good
morning Congress and welcome to Aviemore.
It is an honour and a privilege to address you as STUC President. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how I got
here – but here I am – my usual quiet, unassuming self.
Those of you who know
me well will know that I don't normally, indeed almost never, write a speech
before delivery. The one time that I do...what happens? A little change has to
be made?...Eh no! A General Election is called! A detailed response to this
will be given later in Congress but it would be remiss of me not to comment.
Let's look at Theresa
May, the person who, apparently whilst walking in Wales came to this decision.
This is the same Theresa May who, on at least 3 occasions since she took office
in July last year said: 'there will be no general election'. This is the same
Theresa May who was a ‘remainer’ during the Brexit referendum but has now done
a huge volte- face. This is the same Theresa May who, when a 2nd Independence
Referendum was being discussed said ‘Now is not the time!’
So I tell you what
slogan cannot be used in the next 7 weeks - Trust Theresa? Trust the Tories? I
don't think so! How can we trust her on
employment rights? How can we trust her with our pensions? How can we trust someone who thinks it is
right to have a rape clause in the welfare system? Shame on her and shame on
Ruth Davidson who has consistently refused to condemn it!
So Congress, as a
movement, it's full steam ahead for the next 7 weeks. We must engage our
members in the debate, we must ensure that poverty, jobs, public services, transport,
the NHS and education are at the forefront of this campaign.
We must ensure that the
next UK Government is one which has the interests of working people at heart. We must work together, as a movement, to
ensure that the Tories do not form the next Government! But I’ll say more on
looking at the next few weeks later, in the meantime you'll forgive me if I
look back.
On
occasions like this sometimes we can get nostalgic, and forgive me if I look
back a little before addressing the wider issues facing us. The one thread which has run through all my
life, even as a youngster, is a hatred of injustice.
At
school and at college I was always at the forefront of campaigns which tackled
this issue – whether that was about fairness for the then non certificate
pupils at my school, the challenge to teachers who really only bothered with
the ‘most able’ or the injustice in the late 70s of the attempt to close
Colleges of Education in Scotland. I still remember the boldness of student
unions across the country in occupying colleges to keep them open. Indeed I
well remember being involved in occupying the then Jordanhill College for 10
weeks. There was a degree of excitement in being able to be on the switchboard
saying Jordanhill College of Occupation, rather than Jordanhill College of
Education! We built that campaign over a
period of time and did indeed save these colleges for at least the next 10
years.
I
still smile to myself when I remember that during that time I was so busy with
the occupation that I failed all my exams. I didn’t tell my parents. I just
worked really hard for the resits and passed all of them!
At
that time in my life the greatest injustice for me was the sudden loss of my
father at the age of 52. My wee dad was
one of the cleverest men I’ve ever met but he was the oldest of a family of 5
and had to leave school at 14 in order to make money for the family. He worked all his days in Welma/Sunblest
bakeries and was involved in the trade union there. He wasn’t a party political man but had a
huge sense of fairness which he passed on to me – along with his love of
Partick Thistle. Sadly he died a few
months before my graduation but I hope that over the years I have made him
proud in my continued fight for fairness.
Another
major turning point in my life was linked to the loss of my mother to lung
cancer. I was teaching in a fairly
challenging school in Coatbridge at the time and took some time off to look
after my mum. I had no regrets about doing that. However on my return to work,
my experience was not a great one!
Without going into too much detail, I was very clearly bullied. Let’s
not forget that most people who are bullied in their workplace are bullied at
the point when they are most vulnerable!
I know, for a lot of you in this Auditorium, the idea of me being
bullied is a bit odd. After all she’s loud, articulate, confident, you might
say!! That is true now but it has not
always been the case. From the time this
happened to me, I became determined that I was not going to allow this to
happen to anyone else and that determination is what has driven me ever since.
One
of the most rewarding parts of my year as President has been the opportunity to
address the Equalities Conferences, meet new delegates, young and old and share
my story. I hope that story and my
openness about how tough things can and have been will help encourage others. The message of the Trade Union Movement has
to be - no matter where you are in our Movement, others will be there to
support. We are only as strong as one
another. We must never forget the individuals who face difficulties in their
workplace day and daily. That is who our Movement is here to protect.
My
involvement in the EIS locally and nationally over the last 30 years has been
very varied – as in all unions, we’ve had successes and failures – we’ve
experienced highs and lows but rest assured without the EIS, teachers and
lecturers across Scotland would be far worse off.
Without
my involvement in the EIS, I would never have become involved in the STUC and
I’m grateful to everyone in the EIS over the years for their encouragement to
become involved in the wider trade union movement. Of course I wouldn’t have become involved in
the EIS if I hadn’t been in education.
For the last 32 years I’ve been a teacher, both in primary and secondary
sectors. In all that time I can rarely
recall a period when I was more angry than I am now!
We
are faced with a Scottish Government whose mantra is “We will close the
attainment gap”.
We
will improve Scottish education whilst at the same time cutting back on money
given to Local Authorities which run education.
We have a Government which embarked on a governance review in education
which no-one appeared to want, a governance review intended to divert directly
to Head Teachers. Earlier this year, the
review was put on hold pending consultation and, excuse my cynicism, to avoid
it being an issue in the forthcoming Council elections. But lo and behold, the Pupil
Equity Fund emerged. And what does that do? It gives money directly to Head
Teachers! Don’t get me wrong, additional
money for education is always welcome but this approach is fraught with danger.
It can undermine the role of Local Authorities in running our schools and being
accountable for doing so! It could,
longer term, lead to the academy approach which we see down South!
Let
me be very clear to the Scottish Government and indeed the Scottish Tories,
that the approach will not be tolerated in Scotland. We value our children’s education too much to
allow it to become a lottery!
Don’t
get me started on closing the attainment gap!
This is an issue which goes far wider than the education system – it is
directly linked to poverty. How do you
expect children to attain when they are hungry, don’t have heating in their
homes or indeed a permanent home? You need look no further than the I Daniel
Blake film to see how devastating poverty is in the lives of many! Tackling this issue is a wider societal
issue! Schools can help but the deep
rooted causes of poverty begin far earlier than that. I’ll tell you how you don’t tackle the
attainment gap- and that is by continually testing children by the use of
standardised tests! As a teacher, as a professional, I will not give the same
test to all children when I know that their abilities are different. Why do we
differentiate our teaching and then administer the same test! I didn’t come
into teaching to see children fail! Just
as well I’m retiring soon, as I will not sacrifice my professionalism and the
self-confidence of my pupils in order to provide the Scottish Government with
data! Our children deserve better.
Our
children also deserve a better future – a future without poverty, a future
without greed, a future without war, a future without fear. You can tell from this that I am desperately
trying to be optimistic about the future.
Easier said than done.
I
reflect back to Dundee last year and listening to Lawrence’s Presidential
Address and thinking to myself – I’m sure things will get better! How wrong was I? It has been a very quick but extremely
eventful year.
Who
would have believed that we would have woken up on June 24th to find that the
UK had voted to leave the EU. No matter
your views on this Congress, I know they’ll be varied, make no mistake about
it, that referendum did not take place because the British people wanted it. It
took place because David Cameron was trying to appease people within his own
Party! It was a shameful abuse of power
by a Prime Minister. Incidentally where is he now? Rest assured he’s not worrying about
factories closing, border controls or zero hours contracts, and the trepidation
of EU citizens living, working and studying in Scotland and fearful of the
future! No, he and George have got their
cosy wee jobs, leaving the Trade Union Movement to champion the cause of the
workers. After that Brexit vote I heard
a lot of people saying – well it’s the will of the British people so we must
honour the result. It is our responsibility to challenge the assumptions
underlying that result. It is our responsibility to challenge anti-immigration
feelings. It is our responsibility to make it clear to the people of Scotland,
and indeed the UK, the risk we face to the rights which the EU affords us as
workers, citizens and unions.
This
feels like a year when truth died to be replaced by fear. This is not just a UK
phenomenon. Look at developments across the world. It is very difficult to look at the last year
and not mention election of Donald Trump, the chaos this has caused and the
legitimacy it has given to the rise of the political right across the
world.
Again
I go back to our role to challenge. It is not good enough to abhor his views,
Le Pen’s views, UKIP’s views from the side-lines. We must be upfront as a
Movement in our challenge to them. Whether it is your neighbour, workmate or
family member, it has to happen. We
also have to openly challenge the abhorrent rape clause in the recent child
benefit forms! What kind of society do
we live in that thinks that kind of treatment of women and children is
acceptable. Ruth Davidson should be
ashamed of herself for acting as an apologist for this abhorrent policy.
We
must never let an injustice go by unchallenged.
As Martin Luther King said – ‘what you do not say is often more
important that what you do’!
So
how do we, as a Movement, continue and strengthen challenge within
society? How do we make trade unions and
the trade union activity more relevant?
Sure, we hear on the news and in the media when there are strikes,
normally when they’re pointing out the inconvenience caused. I never quite get
why the media appears surprised at this inconvenience. The whole point of
industrial action is to demonstrate the inconvenience that would be caused if
workers were not doing the job that they do. Let there be no mistake though
Congress, industrial action will always be the last resort for trade unions and
their members and so it should be.
Industrial action has to be the culmination of a campaign and a tactic
which must ensure success!
However
let us also be very clear that the fundamental right of an individual to
withdraw their labour is paramount. It
is a right which has been fought for over the years and one which the Trade
Union Act seeks to undermine. As a
Movement we are very clear – we will never surrender that right! We have work still to do on the Trade Union
Act, and let the message go out from this Congress that our fundamental right
to strike is not and never will be up for grabs!
One
of the biggest challenges facing us as a Movement over the next few years, and
I do mean years, is that of public sector pay! The 1% pay cap on the public sector over
the last few years has meant a real terms pay cut for public sector workers who
are often working long hours, very stressed, suffering from work-related
illnesses and feeling extremely undervalued.
So, I ask myself, why have we not had mass industrial action across the
country in order to highlight this issue and put maximum pressure on employers
and politicians? The answer to that is
very varied and I’m sure we all have our own interpretation and analysis. My analysis, and it is only my analysis, is
that as a Movement we need to ensure that all of our affiliates have a detailed
organising strategy. By that I mean an
organising strategy which is long-term!
Let me take a few minutes to explain what I mean. Those of you in the Auditorium who know me
well will no doubt have a wry smile at me choosing a cake analogy here!
A
cake, as you all no doubt know is made up of many layers ending with the ‘icing
on the top'. A trade union and its
members are exactly the same. In order to get to the ‘icing on the cake’ which
is very well supported industrial action, we must get the ingredients of the
other layers correct. Those layers are the organisational strategy. Those
layers are about the work of reps, and stewards at branch level Those layers
are the small but very worthwhile gains made by union branches day and daily,
whether they be on health and safety issues, or ending zero hours contracts, or
achieving guaranteed tea breaks or facilities, or automatic time off for
training, or sick pay, or pensions or equal pay and the many other gains made
at workplace level all the time.
Those
layers are about communicating with members in many different ways, through
traditional meetings, through speaking to people one to one, through social
media. Those layers are about ensuring our members have access to quality union
led workplace learning. Those layers are about training and supporting people
on a daily basis wherever and whenever they need it. Those layers are about the STUC’s role in
supporting affiliates in their organising work, including access to the Union
Modernisation Fund which will enable all of these activities to happen!
If
we, as a Movement, work on making sure these layers are built on a solid
foundation then when we get to the stage of putting the cake in the oven,
everything will be in place. Without a
long-term organising strategy how can we expect people to support trade union
action. It is arrogant of us to expect members to follow our lead if we have
not led them properly, if we have not taken them with us. With the Movement organised and involved then
the icing on the cake should bring us victory every time.
Continuing
on the theme of challenge, the STUC itself faces challenges in the way we
operate with and co-ordinate within our affiliates. My Presidential year has been a challenging
one as we embarked on a restructuring internally and a reorganisation of
affiliation fees through a hard fought agreement with affiliates and the TUC to
ensure that Congress is properly resourced to meet the growing demands of
devolution and to develop the STUC's campaigning and organising. As an
organisation, we have a key role to play in supporting unions in their
organising and campaigning activity. I assure you we will continue to fulfil
that role. And, as ever, the work of our
Equalities Committees and Conferences will be at the forefront of the work we
take forward in the coming year. What they do in tackling discrimination and
campaigning for equality is central to our work.
None
of the work of the STUC can be taken forward without the dedication and hard
work of all of the staff. It’s not
really until you are in this position that you realise the amount of work the
staff put in. I would like to put on
record my personal thanks to them for their support during the last year. I’d also like to thank Satnam, my
Vice-President and Pat Rafferty, our Treasurer, and all other members of the
General Council for making my year such a smooth and enjoyable one.
I’ve
left three people to the end as I feel they deserve special mention. My own union, EIS General Secretary, Larry
Flanagan. At meetings of the General
Council you can always guarantee Larry has read all the papers thoroughly and
will ask the difficult and informed questions!
On a serious note, Larry has been a great support to me during this last
year – always a good listener.
My
thanks also go to Dave Moxham, the STUC's Deputy General Secretary, for all his
support and encouragement throughout the year – again always available to
advise.
Last
but certainly not least, my sincere thanks go to Grahame Smith, the STUC's
General Secretary. A few people have
said to me that Grahame has aged during my year as President. The poor guy is
always on tender hooks as to what I’ve got up to say or do next! I’m sure I’ve not been as rebellious as he
thought. From the many briefings at 8am
to the odd ‘well I wouldn’t advise that’ his advice, support, sometimes
grumpiness, but very genuine friendship has been great. Thanks Grahame.
In
conclusion Congress, I’ve had a great year, I remain optimistic that together
as a Movement we are stronger together and I hope you enjoy the next few days.
Thank
you for listening.
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