Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has been criticised for missing the conference of a major teaching union as its members prepare for a fresh round of strike action.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU), the largest teaching union in the UK, have been on strike since February and are set to strike again this month after they overwhelmingly rejected the government’s latest pay offer.
Ms Phillipson will instead attend the gathering of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), who are not on strike, this week.
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Last year, Ms Phillipson was heckled by teachers at the NEU’s conference while outlining her proposals to reform rather than abolish Ofsted – one of the union’s key demands.
A Labour source pointed out that both the NEU and NASUWT conferences are taking place in the same week and that it would be difficult for Ms Phillipson to attend both given her busy diary as an MP and shadow cabinet member.
But a union source told Sky News: “It is blatantly obvious that Bridget Phillipson doesn’t want to be associated with the NEU’s pay campaign and policy on free school meals.
“The shadow education secretary is happy to engage with teachers as long as they’re not on strike or opposing her policies.
“What kind of message does it send to educators if the shadow education secretary is directly avoiding them?”
A Labour MP added: “If I was in her position, I completely get it – no MP wants to go into a room and know they’re going to be slow clapped or get a hostile reception.
“But on the other hand, that is what you are paid the big bucks for.
“The NEU is the biggest teaching union in the country and we have to win them over.”
Education secretary Gillian Keegan will also not attend the NEU conference, as no Conservative minister has been invited since the union was created in 2017.
Labour takes neutral stance on strike action
Ms Phillipson’s decision not to attend the conference comes at a pivotal time for the education sector, which is grappling with teacher strikes across England and Wales.
The NEU has been on strike since February over pay and working conditions, leading to thousands of school closures and disruption for parents.
The union, which is not affiliated to the Labour Party, was the only teaching union in England to reach the 50% turnout threshold required by law to pass its ballot for strike action. Similar attempts by NASUWT and the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) failed because they did not meet turnout demands.
The government offered teachers in England a £1,000 extra cash payment this year and an average 4.5% increase next year in a bid to end the long-running dispute over wages and conditions.
But the NEU today turned down the offer, with joint general secretary Kevin Courtney telling conference delegates that it “does not cut the mustard”. Some 98% of those who voted rejected it – and strikes are now scheduled for 27 April and 2 May.
To the annoyance of some unions, including Labour donor Unite, the party has adopted a neutral stance towards strike action over fears the public may associate it with the widescale disruption.
As well as strikes, a number of other policy differences have opened up with the Labour Party including over free school meals and the role of Ofsted, which is facing heightened scrutiny following the death of former headteacher Ruth Perry.
The Labour Party has pledged to reform Ofsted and its system of ratings, with Ms Phillipson telling the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) recently that parents and schools “deserve better than a system that is high stakes for staff but low information for parents”.
However, it has stopped short of calling for Ofsted to be abolished.
Meanwhile, a gulf has opened up between the London mayor and the central party over school meals.
A key component of Labour’s childcare offer is a plan to fund breakfast clubs in every primary school in England – a plan that will cost £365m a year.
The announcement, which Ms Phillipson described as “first step in the road” to improved childcare for parents, was followed months later by Sadiq Khan’s emergency scheme to extend free school meals to every primary school pupil in London for one year – a policy the NEU backs.
Mr Khan’s one off £130m programme, which comes into effect from September, has been interpreted in some quarters as an undermining of Labour’s central announcement.
A Labour source said: “As part of our regular engagement with all of the education sector trade unions, Bridget will be making her first appearance as shadow education secretary to the NASUWT annual conference in Glasgow and is looking forward to speaking to members attending the conference.”
An NEU spokesperson said: “Bridget Phillipson was welcome to attend this year’s NEU annual conference.
“The NEU also understands that with time constraints on the shadow education secretary’s diary a mutually acceptable decision to attend the NASUWT conference who they did not have time for last year was made.
“The NEU regularly engages with Bridget Phillipson and the Labour frontbench, as we do with all major political parties.”