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Wiltshire Association of the
National Union of Teachers.
LATEST NEWS
A General Meeting of Wiltshire NUT will be held on Monday 21st May 2012 at The Bear Hotel, Devizes from 6pm to 7.30pm. A buffet and drinks will be provided.
Agenda items include: Annual Conference report; Pensions Campaign - what next?
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Please click the tab on the left for photos and details of the 30 November 2011 Day of Action for fair pensions for teachers. 
Lobby of Parliament: 26 October 2011
Teachers, lecturers and support staff from Wiltshire visited Parliament on Wednesday 26th October to lobby their MPs about pension cuts in the education sector.
Over 150,000 petition signatures were handed to the government.
Staff from the maintained, academy and independent sectors in Wiltshire lobbied their MPs and handed in petitions from their workplaces. All five Wiltshire MPs were lobbied by NUT members and representatives from other teaching unions.
Wiltshire Secretary, Mike Harrison said:
“It was a great day and it is difficult to describe the feeling of, to coin a phrase, ‘we’re all in this together’. Yes, we are, and we are all opposed to the proposed changes to the pension scheme.”
I met with Duncan Hames (Lib Dem MP for Chippenham) alongside Steve Lamb (President Wiltshire NUT) and NUT member Richard Page along with representatives from ATL, NASUWT and NAHT.”
This lobby and the large number of petitions returned from Wiltshire should serve as a wake-up call to the Government. If Ministers don’t recognise that pensions are both affordable and sustainable, many teachers and lecturers will be left with no option but to take further action, including supporting the planned TUC day of action on 30 November
Lobby of Parliament: 26 October 2011
Teachers, lecturers and support staff from Wiltshire visited Parliament on Wednesday 26th October to lobby their MPs about pension cuts in the education sector.
Over 150,000 petition signatures were handed to the government.
Staff from the maintained, academy and independent sectors in Wiltshire lobbied their MPs and handed in petitions from their workplaces. All five Wiltshire MPs were lobbied by NUT members and representatives from other teaching unions.
Wiltshire Secretary, Mike Harrison said:
“It was a great day and it is difficult to describe the feeling of, to coin a phrase, ‘we’re all in this together’. Yes, we are, and we are all opposed to the proposed changes to the pension scheme.”
I met with Duncan Hames (Lib Dem MP for Chippenham) alongside Steve Lamb (President Wiltshire NUT) and NUT member Richard Page along with representatives from ATL, NASUWT and NAHT.”
This lobby and the large number of petitions returned from Wiltshire should serve as a wake-up call to the Government. If Ministers don’t recognise that pensions are both affordable and sustainable, many teachers and lecturers will be left with no option but to take further action, including supporting the planned TUC day of action on 30 November
The national NUT website can be accessed at this address: www.teachers.org.uk
You can contact us by telephone or email.
Divisional Secretary - Mike Harrison
7 Hanover Terrace, Bath BA1 6LJ
Telephone: 01225 789490
Email: secretary@wiltshire.nut.org.uk
Divisional Treasurer and Case Worker - Georgie Trythall
Telephone: 01380 725329
Email: g_trythall@hotmail.com
Membership Secretary - Paul Lawrance
Telephone: 07796 173792
Email: plawrance67@talktalk.net
Please note: existing individual membeship enquiries should be directed to Head Office, via the national website, the address of which is shown above.
NUT Pension Ballot Results
On Tuesday 14 June, the National Union of Teachers announced overwhelming endorsement by its members for strike action to defend teachers’ pensions. In the NUT’s strike ballot 92% voted in favour of strike action with a turnout of 40%
We will be campaigning alongside the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) who have had similar strong results in their ballot of members and the University and College Union (UCU) who also have members in the scheme and balloted a short while ago. Two unions which recruit almost entirely from senior managers in schools also support the campaign against these changes.
The NUT national executive will be meeting today to take the formal decision on a day of national strike action planned for 30 June but this is almost certainly the day that will be chosen and plans are being made for rallies and marches throughout the South West.
The NUT believes that our pensions are fair and affordable. The Government wants teachers to pay more, work longer, and get less. They are pressing ahead with unnecessary reforms despite the changes already made to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in 2007 which resulted in the flow of money into the scheme being equivalent to that going out to pensioners.
The National Audit Office has confirmed that public sector pension costs are falling as expected due to the reforms already in place. Teachers are already paying more, the normal pension age has been raised to 65 for new entrants and employer contributions have been capped. The new proposals would raise teachers’ contributions by 50% (fifty percent) and would result in most of them having to work until they are 68 with lower pension payments when they reach that age.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has also been highly critical of the Government’s pension strategy which they say is based more on public perception of public sector pensions than on actual figures.
Mike Harrison, Wiltshire Secretary of the National Union of Teachers said:
“The Government’s unnecessary attack on public sector pensions has convinced NUT members that there is no alternative but to support strike action.
“It is disgraceful that the Government is pressing ahead with its reforms which will affect teachers’ pensions. The Government knows that they are affordable. This is a policy which has nothing to do with economics and everything to do with politics and is, in effect, an extra tax on teachers to pay for the failure of the banks which led to our economic deficit whilst those who caused the problems have seemingly untouchable pensions and bonuses.
“The NUT is party to the TUC negotiations with Government to protect public sector pensions although we believe that the Government has not entered into those negotiations in the true spirit of attempting to reach agreement. However, it is not too late for common sense to prevail and for these unnecessary changes to be stopped. It is in no one’s interest to create a whole new swathe of people who are a burden on the taxpayer in old age. Nor is it in any one’s interest to have large numbers of young teachers opting out of the scheme and lessening the flow of funds into it thus possible making it unviable and a burden on the taxpayer rather than self-financing as it is at the moment.
“The NUT alongside TUC affiliated unions will do all we can to ensure fair pensions for all.”
March and rally – London – Saturday 26 March 2011
From Mike Harrison:
Many thanks to the NUT members who took part in the TUC "March for Alternative" yesterday and making it such a fantastic day. It was good to be able to fill a whole coach with Wiltshire NUT members.
The coverage in the national media has, generally, has been very positive despite the media's predictable obsession with the violence.
NUT General Secretary, Christine Blower was on the radio this morning (March 27th) emphasising the next battle: PENSIONS.
This issue will affect all of us, young and old, and can be summed up in 6 words:
Pay More
Work Longer
Get less
WILTSHIRE NUT BRANCH MEETINGS
From Mike Harrison:
Many thanks to the NUT members who took part in the TUC "March for Alternative" yesterday and making it such a fantastic day. It was good to be able to fill a whole coach with Wiltshire NUT members.
The coverage in the national media has, generally, has been very positive despite the media's predictable obsession with the violence.
NUT General Secretary, Christine Blower was on the radio this morning (March 27th) emphasising the next battle: PENSIONS.
This issue will affect all of us, young and old, and can be summed up in 6 words:
Pay More
Work Longer
Get less
The coverage in the national media has, generally, has been very positive despite the media's predictable obsession with the violence.
NUT General Secretary, Christine Blower was on the radio this morning (March 27th) emphasising the next battle: PENSIONS.
This issue will affect all of us, young and old, and can be summed up in 6 words:
Pay More
Work Longer
Get less
WILTSHIRE NUT BRANCH MEETINGS
All members of the National Union of Teachers are warmly invited to our meetings, which usually last about an hour. An excellent buffet supper is provided free-of-charge. Travel expenses can be reclaimed.
The date and time of the next Wiltshire NUT meeting is Monday 21st May 2012 at 6pm. Venue: The Bear Hotel, Devizes.
No events are currently scheduled.
