numbers of schools in one area; a national strike for a limited period, and the possibility of striking in the 'O' and 'A' level period.
During the first action which is taken, there is no collective pool of experience and knowledge, no remembered processes or procedure, all has to be learnt through action, and inevitably mistakes are made. But they are recognised a such and lessons are learnt. In the firs strike period in December, some teachers hived off on a fortnight's holiday: in no strike do all the strikers take an active part, but in the NUT there was often no basic organisation. Within a month, the next strike was called, and the next lot of teachers had organised strike committees, contacted Trades Councils, Tenants Associations, local T.U. branches, held meetings with the parents, and began to identify themselves with other workers.
ISOLATION At the moment the strikes are limited to Isolated schools and to a few teachers though press coverage has given the imoression to some individuals that almost all teachers are out.) However it is likely that by the end of February there will be large areas where all NUT members will be striking, and this would be invaluable-not in order to get the £135, but to develop the consciousness of teachers as members of a trade union. The education system is based on small isolated units, isolating the teachers and the taught; it gains its strength from the fragmentation of its work force-into graduate/non-graduate: secondary/primary: old/young. In the schools, small numbers of staff are effectively controlled by a head teacher, in larger schools by the deputy heads, usually by paternalism. And the teachers in their isolation find it difficult to identify with other teachers in other schools; by coming out of all the schools in the area and participating in mass actions, they will begin to realise the notential strenoth that thou, hore do 13S the NUT (who are all, bar one, head teachers the one being a deputy head), who have always depended upon a very non-militant and pliable rank and file. This is not a strike that has been initiated from above. The rank and file have been forcing the executive into taking action (we are particularly lucky that this March the bi-annual executive elections are being held, so that the prospective executive candidates are all pretending to be very militant-a danger in one sense, since they have no strategy at all and we may see a very interesting change after the elections!) and will not be satis fied by anything less than £135. The lessons that are being learnt now by the teachers, especially at local level, will stand them in good stead in the future: particularly when one realises that the future is going to see the teachers become increasingly militant as they come into conflict with the government on pay, working conditions, especially class size, and possibly over the cut-backs which will come in educational expenditure.
AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT The present strikes are seen by the teach THAN US SHORT £135!
ВАВУ NO COMPROMISE