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TLRs


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I must confess that I am a little confused by the forthcoming restructuring salaries and responsibilities for UK teachers on old management allowances.

At my own school we have been kept largely in the dark and await with trepidation what is actually going to happen.

Several colleagues I know who work in other schools have already heard that they are going to have to stomach considerable pay cuts. I would count myself as extremely vulnerable to something similar.

I also note a flood of teachers leaving the NASUWT for the NUT.

Does anyone have any useful insight into what to expect and how best to organise?

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I also note a flood of teachers leaving the NASUWT for the NUT.

Does anyone have any useful insight into what to expect and how best to organise?

The 'flood' is in many ways sad, if understandable. It shouldn't be the case that a Union is party to reducing its members wages.

At this stage, I suspect 'how best to organise' is a little in advance of how to organise, and getting orgnised asap is vital....

The NUT appear to be trying to make it as easy for the governing body as possible to do very little. The instruction is to 'review' rather than 'change' current structure. A structure that has delivered year-on-year improvement in just about every conceivable area measured nationally is not really something that you want to play around with unnecessarily.*

TO be fair to NASUWT, in my area they are trying to oppose MOST change. However, my NASUWT counterpart (I'm the NUT rep) is still saying that she can see why there should be some change because some people are being paid management points for 'spurious' reasons (unlike SMT who are normally leaders for spurious reasons). Wholesale restructuring seems an odd way to me to rectify a few anomalies.

One day when NASUWT and a few other unions get out of Tony Blair's bed, we can begin to organise more effectively for the good things we all know to be required: better healthcare; better education through smaller class sizes, better facilities, letting the teacher teach without constant worry about ofsted, SAT, CAT and other statistical measures; local services that merit the word 'service'... 'Our Tone' is in reality 'Their Clone', a Tory in (new) Labour clothing. He will leave the party, and it won't be left. The Modernisation begun by Kinnock, which was first flung into our faces in Bermondsey, is coming to a close, and socialism in the Labour Party 'merely' a subject for historians to debate.

Ed

*unless there's a hidden agenda - reduce the pay (and later pension) bill... smash the national terms and conditions agreement.

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*unless there's a hidden agenda - reduce the pay (and later pension) bill... smash the national terms and conditions agreement.

You may have something there (and are certainly in the right place for conpsiracy theories :rolleyes: )

Locally also I wonder how many Heads will also leap on the opportunity to settle a few scores with the introduction of TLRS - most schools of course being about as democratic as the average prison

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The advice from Bucks NUT is quite good

The following has been posted to the blog

http://nutbucks.blogspot.com/

Other news about TLRS will appear on http://socialistteachers.blogspot.com as we get it.

STOP PAY CUTS

STAY UNITED TO STOP PAY CUTS

By now you should have seen the heads proposals for the change over to TLRs at your school.

The NUT has urged heads and governors to follow a minimum change model where no one suffers a pay cut. This is what is happening in most schools we know about - most headteachers value their staff and don't want to cut their pay.

But if that isn't happening we want to help:

The NUT is urging teachers to stay united to say no to any pay cut - and wants to ballot for action in every school where cuts are proposed.

The NUT will conduct an indicative ballot if:

• You are being refused consultation - or

• Consultation is being unreasonably delayed - or

• The heads draft proposals suggest any NUT member suffers a pay cut - or

• The Governors final proposals suggest any member suffers a pay cut.

We will go back to the head after we have the indicative result to try to persuade them to change their proposals.

If that persuasion doesn't work we will ballot formally for "sustained, discontinous" action. That means we will pay you to be on strike - and that we will call you out for action say for a day a week until the school backs down. We will also help you to submit a grievance and if possible lodge an employment tribunal appeal.

We can win and stop the pay cuts if members in schools stick together.

But the union has to know what's happening if we are to help. If there are any pay cuts threatened at you school please get in touch a.s.a.p.

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The bulletin of the opposition did mention this:

"The RIG proposals are quite explicit about what they hope to achieve - cuts: " the net national cost of TLR payments will be no greater than the cost of allowances - our expectation is that it should be less". In fact, the savings have already been budgeted for ! The DfES expect schools to save £25 million in 2005/6 by "reducing numbers of allowances". That’s the cost of 15,000 MAN 1 Allowances !

"If the proposals are agreed, every school will have to review who is to receive the new TLR payments by December 2005. The planned savings are ample proof that it is inevitable that some will lose out.

"RIG propose that TLR payments will have to be "for a significant, specified responsibility focused on teaching and learning". But the reality in schools is that thousands of teachers are already carrying out additional responsibilities without extra payment. RIG threatens to make things worse. Posts that previously attracted allowances will now be judged to be without the "significant" responsibility needed for a TLR.

Source http://socialistteachers.org.uk/spri2005.htm

The bulletin of the opposition

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"The RIG proposals are quite explicit about what they hope to achieve - cuts: " the net national cost of TLR payments will be no greater than the cost of allowances - our expectation is that it should be less". In fact, the savings have already been budgeted for ! The DfES expect schools to save £25 million in 2005/6 by "reducing numbers of allowances". That’s the cost of 15,000 MAN 1 Allowances !

Or of you'd rather about 4 in every secondary school. Shame that we can't reduce the income of Sec of State for Ed in the same way every time s/he fails to defend schools or the teaching profession, or send her/him to the GTC on a competency procedure.

:blink:

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  • 2 weeks later...

"The RIG proposals are quite explicit about what they hope to achieve - cuts: " the net national cost of TLR payments will be no greater than the cost of allowances - our expectation is that it should be less". In fact, the savings have already been budgeted for ! The DfES expect schools to save £25 million in 2005/6 by "reducing numbers of allowances". That’s the cost of 15,000 MAN 1 Allowances !

Or of you'd rather about 4 in every secondary school. Shame that we can't reduce the income of Sec of State for Ed in the same way every time s/he fails to defend schools or the teaching profession, or send her/him to the GTC on a competency procedure.

:D

It would appear that 1,000 of teachers in middle management positions in the UK are destined to suffer substantial pay cuts and degradation of their pension entitlements because of these reforms.

Surely it would be appropriate for a teacher facing such issues to take out a grievance procedure against their headteacher????

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Surely it would be appropriate for a teacher facing such issues to take out a grievance procedure against their headteacher????

Sure as hell would y'all...

Gotta go for the max numbers at this stage to back the head (and the relevant members of the governing body :D ) into as small a corner as possible, and ideally before implementation. Make them see the damage being done not only to our pay, but to the goodwill that every school depends on. Image a school where no-one is willing to do lunchtime duty... mentor kids in exam classes... take on a school trip... What happens to them when the results begin to fall...

Of course we'll be vilified again for letting students down, for not caring about students... Obvious answer:

"if you can get Sainsbury's to let me off £200 (or equivalent loss) of food every year between now and my death, increasing as the average rate of pay increases I'll accept this pay cut. Or if Abbey National will reduce the amount I owe them by £12000 (for every £200 loss) and adjust my payments accordingly I'll accept this pay cut.

Of course they wouldn't let me get away with paying less for the same thing, or give me more for the same price. Why does the government, and my governing body think it's okay to force me to provide more for the same or the same for less?"

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Surely it would be appropriate for a teacher facing such issues to take out a grievance procedure against their headteacher????

Sure as hell would y'all...

Gotta go for the max numbers at this stage to back the head (and the relevant members of the governing body :D ) into as small a corner as possible, and ideally before implementation. Make them see the damage being done not only to our pay, but to the goodwill that every school depends on. Image a school where no-one is willing to do lunchtime duty... mentor kids in exam classes... take on a school trip... What happens to them when the results begin to fall...

Of course we'll be vilified again for letting students down, for not caring about students... Obvious answer:

"if you can get Sainsbury's to let me off £200 (or equivalent loss) of food every year between now and my death, increasing as the average rate of pay increases I'll accept this pay cut. Or if Abbey National will reduce the amount I owe them by £12000 (for every £200 loss) and adjust my payments accordingly I'll accept this pay cut.

Of course they wouldn't let me get away with paying less for the same thing, or give me more for the same price. Why does the government, and my governing body think it's okay to force me to provide more for the same or the same for less?"

Agreed on all points, but what is the official NUT position? Will they back calls for strike ballots to protect members pay? Will they back grievance procedures for similar reasons? Their website is unclear.

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Agreed on all points, but what is the official NUT position? Will they back calls for strike ballots to protect members pay? Will they back grievance procedures for similar reasons? Their website is unclear.

According to NUT on the Web (which I thought was me for a minute) they will do these things including balloting.

The Government's freezing of management allowances (MAs) was a pay cut. Now the introduction of Teaching and Learning Responsibility payments (TLRs) could bring further pay cuts to thousands of teachers.

The NUT is monitoring the progress of the staffing reviews under way in England and planned for Wales. It will support its members, balloting for action in individual schools if necessary, where:

timetables for consultation and negotiation have not been agreed in England;

the NUT at any level has been refused consultation on staffing reviews;

unacceptable decisions have been made without consultation;

proposals for new staffing structures have been adopted that vary widely from the existing structures, to the detriment of teachers;

teachers with MAs are not offered TLRs that are at least equivalent; and

teachers face reductions in pay.

NUT school representatives should advise their local associations or divisions if any of the above situations arise in their schools.

Last one to buy a copy of Socialist Worker when on the picket line is a ne'erdowell!

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Last one to buy a copy of Socialist Worker when on the picket line is a ne'erdowell!

Make it Socialist Standard for me please. I can't abide ideological laziness :D

Cheers for the advice old boy ;)

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  • 2 months later...

The BBC have reported the following

"The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) said: "The new payments allow heads and governors the flexibility they need to structure their schools as they see fit - to make best use of teachers' expertise - and reward those taking on significant additional responsibilities, in an open and fair way.

"They replace the outdated and often misused management allowances and are designed to reinforce the important progress made in focusing teachers on teaching and learning."

Some of the concern about the changes has arisen because they have tended to mean an end to teachers' undertaking pastoral duties such as head of year.

A DfES spokesman said: "Clearly some important aspects of pastoral responsibilities are about improving teaching and learning - and should be recognised and rewarded."

We may conclude from this report that it is apparently "OK" to allow all our existing SMTs to administer the new system without new regulations despite the fact they often "misused" the last one :lol:

And that pastoral work is to be recognized in the new system as worthy of TLR reward.

I would suggest therefore that all schools should slot in their existing staff to posts commensurate with their existing ones - unless of course SMTs have been guilty of incompetence or corruption in their allocation of allowances in the past.

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I would suggest therefore that all schools should slot in their existing staff to posts commensurate with their existing ones - unless of course SMTs have been guilty of incompetence or corruption in their allocation of allowances in the past.

I couldn't agree more, which, as you can imagine, is slightly irksome! :lol:

Our 'colleagues' in NASUWT at one time seemed to acknowledge imperfections in the old system. If some of us were less underpaid than others, I don't have problem with that, outside of us all being underpaid and undervalued, with which I have a HUMONGOUS problem.

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Having been presented with something which seemed to imply a large amount of potential losers the unions called for a face to face meeting with the governors who have told us they will look at all our concerns and make a decision in "the best interests of the school".

I would be interested to know what the current situation is in other schools.

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