Classroom teachers last night backed changes to union rules that will make it easier for them to go on strike.
Members of the National Union of Teachers voted in favour of a motion proposing lower voting thresholds for ballots on industrial action.
The changes involve lowering the cut-off point for industrial action, so that a majority of union members taking part in a ballot can trigger a strike rather than, as has been the case, a majority of those, in the school or area, who are eligible to vote.
The new rule would avoid repeating what happened last year when more than 80% of NUT members who were balloted backed a proposed boycott of Sats tests, yet the boycott did not go ahead because fewer than half of those eligible to vote took part. The result was seen as a low point for the NUT, following a high-profile campaign against testing by the then general secretary, Doug McAvoy.
The decision was reached yesterday after a lengthy, heated debate that went to a card vote on the issue of reducing strike pay over a period of time. It was agreed to leave that option open.
The NUT general secretary, Steve Sinnott, who had insisted at the union's annual conference this year that the NUT would only consider taking industrial action as a last resort, said last night: "It will still be for the national executive to decide whether the ballot should trigger any decision. Power will continue to rest with the executive."
