National Union of Teachers
The National Union of Teachers was a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NUT members endorsed a proposed merger with the Association of Teachers and Lecturers to form a new union known as the National Education Union, which came into existence on 1 September 2017. The union recruited only qualified teachers and those training to be qualified teachers into membership and on dissolution had almost 400,000 members, making it the largest teachers' union in the United Kingdom.
Campaigns
The NUT campaigned on educational issues and working conditions for its members. Among the NUT's policies in 2017 were:- Fair pay for teachers
- Work-life balance for teachers
- Against academies
- Abolition of National Curriculum Tests
- One union for all teachers
History
The NUT was established at a meeting at King's College London on 25 June 1870 as the National Union of Elementary Teachers to represent all school teachers in England and Wales combining a number of local teacher associations which had formed across the country following the Elementary Education Act 1870. After toying with the idea of changing the name to the National Union of English Teachers, the name National Union of Teachers 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, was formed within the NUT to further the interests of male teachers. The NAMT changed its name in 1920 to the National Association of Schoolmasters 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. 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, except during the Second World War, when the NUT rented Toddington Manor, Gloucestershire in order to avoid air raids.
Leadership
General Secretaries
The General Secretary was the leader of the NUT. From 1989, the General Secretary was elected by the union's membership, with each term lasting five years.- William Lawson, 1870–1873
- Thomas Heller, 1873–1891
- James Yoxall, 1892–1924
- Frank Goldstone, 1924–1931
- Frederick Mander, 1931–1947
- Ronald Gould, 1947–1970
- Edward Britton, 1970–1975
- Fred Jarvis, 1975–1989
- Doug McAvoy, 1989–2004
- Steve Sinnott, 2004–2008
- Christine Blower, 2008–2016
- Kevin Courtney, 2016–2017