NASUWT teachers ballot frustrated by undemocratic Tory laws
The NASUWT teachers union which has around 160,000 members has reported that nine out of ten members who voted in an industrial action ballot on pay supported it. However there was a problem. The turnout was 42% less than the 50% required by Tory employment laws. As TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak noted in effect this means that abstentions are counted as ‘no’ votes. Not very democratic really.
It goes further than that. While Tory members can vote by e-mail in their numerous leadership elections the Tories have repeatedly refused to allow this for trade union ballots. Participation is by a postal vote only.
Grant Schapps has recently been going on about how the latest Tory proposals to force those voting for strike to work are already in place in many other European countries. That isn’t true but it is true that the NASUWT ballot would have been legal in most EU countries (no actual difference to the UK being in or out of the EU in this case)
The Tories and their media outlets often go on about trade union ‘bosses’ and ‘barons’ but the reality is their own anti-democratic laws frustrate the democratic intent of trade union members
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