La postura

Introduction

The militant ethos which the NAS/UWT established in its dealings

at both local and national level and its avowedly trade union approach

to all aspects of its activities attracted a membership which was

different from that of other teachers' unions. It also produced a

set of policies about the nature of workplace representation which

differed from those espoused by those other unions. This was as

true in local NAS/UWT branches which retained a branch meeting based

organization as it was of the Coventry NAS/UWT after the re-structuring

of the local association. If anything the Coventry re-structuring,

with its increased opportunities for workplace representation, its

enlarged executive and its developing committee structure, provided

even greater opportunities for school representatives to play a major

part in the activities of the local assqciation.

The existence of a structure which permits groups to become

involved in certain aspects of activity is one pre-requisite for

participation and the exerting of influence. It is not sufficient,

however, to ensure that this happens. Individuals and groups need to

perceive the necessity for becoming involved and have to recognize

this as part of a legitimate and shared set of expectations concerning

their particular functions. In this case the workplace based members

and the local officers, as well as the school representatives

themselves were required to recognize that such participation was

desirable. They also needed to share perceptions about the nature

of that participation and the ways in which the school representatives

The training programme which was given to the Coventry

NAS/UWT school representatives was an attempt to articulate and

make explicit the local officers' views about what those expectations

and the resultant appropriate behaviour should be. These views

owed something to the national policy on this matter but, as will be

seen below, they tended to owe more to the attitudes of the officers

to local conditions and the circumstances within which the school

representatives were required to carry out their functions. The

positions taken by the officers towards the school representatives

can be interpreted as an attempt to influence and to control the ways

in which they carried out their workplace functions as well as their

wider activities on the local executive.

The NAS/UWT did, however, have a very clear national policy on

the functions which were to be carried out by the school representatives

and on the ways on which such duties should be understood by all

concerned, especially the representatives themselves. This policy,

too, formed part of the training programme. It also helped to shape

the attitudes of local officers towards school representatives. In

looking at the nature of the workplace representation in the Coventry

NAS/UWT, the part which this representation played in enabling members'

views to be presented to officers, and the processes of influence

within the local association, there are four main factors to consider.

The perceptions of the school representatives; the nature of the training

given to them; the practice of representation and the influence those

practices exert and to which they are subjected; and the national

policy on workplace representations and the ways in which that policy

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NAS/UWT Policy for School Representation

Workplace representation In schools has traditionally been

through a system of school representatives chosen from among the

members in a given school. This position has long been regarded by

union officers as a position of some strategic importance since the

school representative was often the member's first point of contact

with the union. For potential new members fresh from college, as

yet unattached to a union, the school representative could act as

the recruiting agent. He or she was usually the first member of the

union to know who was new, who was leaving and who wished to change

their union allegiance.

In practice, however, the main responsibility of the school

representative was that of collecting subscriptions and, sometimes,

passing on information to members in the schools. Very little

else was expected of the school representative and very few of them

expected to do anything else. As the pattern of collecting

subscriptions changed in the ways outlined in the previous chapter,

school representatives were left with the residual functions of

chasing those members who were in arrears, where they could be identified,

and of distributing messages from the branch and the other levels

of the organization.

In spite of these relatively trivial duties the centrality of

the school representatives in the effective working of teachers' unions

has been widely recognized (Roy, 1964). The senior officers of the

Coventry NAS/UWT recognized their role as a crucial one for the local

association. The local treasurer still expected them to play a major

part in the collection of subscriptions. He also assumed that they

financial and other matters. Much of this, in Coventry, now appeared

to be done through the local association's regular bulletin which

was distributed directly to members in the workplace. The treasurer

also expected the school representatives to play a less tangible role

in the local association, that of providing leadership for NAS/UWT

members within the schools. To this end he believed that they must

be better informed about union policy, rights and responsibilities

than the average member (NAS/UWT,1977d). He saw the training

programme as an important step in the direction of achieving this

objective. He also argued that the school representatives ought

to be in a position to liaise between headteachers and members as

well as to represent members in disputes which may arise in schools

without necessarily involving officers of the local association.

This appears to be in direct contradiction to the national policy

for school representation as outlined in the Guide for School

Representatives (1977a).

The local association's president was similarly unclear about

the national guidelines for school representatives. He recognized

that, at present, they were merely inefficient repositaries of

information although he believed that their effectiveness here had been

improved by the bulletin, provided that they kept it (NAS/UWT,1977c).

He believed that they ought to become sufficiently well trained to

accept much of the responsibility for sorting out the problems which,

at the moment, appear as casework for the secretary. The president

shared with the treasurer the opinion that the role of the school

representative would expand and, indeed, must expand, if volunteers

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These views reflect the strangely ambiguous nature of national

policy towards workplace representation in the NAS/UWT. They are

consistent with the spirit of the policy of developing the shop

steward function of the school representative while, at the same time,

they violate the letter of that same policy which warns that, 'the

school representative is not expected to act for his colleagues beyond

the preliminary stage of any issue,(NAS/UWT,1977a, 6). Much depends

on the way in which 'preliminary stage' is interpreted here but this

sentence appears to restrict the activities of workplace representatives

severely. It may be that, in the future, this short sentence may prove

to be inconsistent with the overall policy of the association. At the

moment, however, it remains and, as will be seen below, it is not

without its supporters.

Whatever ambiguity in interpretation, application or expectation

there may be over this matter the NAS/UWT policy on workplace representation

is set out clearly in the second paragraph of the Guide for School

Representatives (NAS/UWT,1977a:5). This states that although the

decision has been taken to retain the title of 'school representative'

for the workplace representatives of the NAS/UWT, this does not imply

that there is to be any 'dilution of the essential shop steward

function', (NAS/UWT,1977a:5), which the school representative must seek

to carry out. This involves being the first line of defence both in

professional and trade union interests of their colleagues. The

distinction between these two terms is not made explicit. Nor is the

NAS/UWT's general approach to professional matters which was discussed

in Chapter 2. The school representatives are left to sort out such

issues for themselves or, more likely, in conjunction with local

Some attention la, however, given to the nature of shop

stewardship. The shop steward, it is claimed, 'is the direct link

between lower level management and the organized work force and is

capable of resolving many difficultues which might otherwise develop

into industrial disputes' (NAS/UWT,1977a:5). Detailed notes are given

about relevant legislation, such as the Protection of Employment Act,

trade union sanctions and their use, trade union recognition and agreed

facilities for representatives of recognized teachers' organisations.

The tone is clearly intended to convey to school representatives that

they have far wider functions within the NAS/UWT than the mere

collection of funds, the pursuing of members who are late in

paying their subscriptions, and the dissemination of information.

Their role is presented as being active rather than passive and, in spite

of some brief but important indications to the contrary, the impression

is created that the school representatives have a significant part

to play in handling disputes, case work -and other local union matters.

In contrast to this emphasis on the shop steward function of the

NAS/UWT school representative, the same post in the NUT is given a very

different brief. The School Representative' Handbook (NUT,1982) makes

no mention of a shop steward function for the NUT workplace representative.

The functions to be carried out by the school representative are listed

as being, 'The direct recruitment of members, ... collection of

subscriptions ... disseminating both local and national information from

the union to the members ... and handling the initial stages of

individual grievances of union members' (NUT,1982:5-6). There is no

reference made to union or employment legislation nor is any real

95

This Handbook, (NUT,1982), is directed towards locating the school

representative firmly within the local, regional, and national

structure of the union.

In many ways the nature of the tasks outlined for the school

representatives is very similar. Both are expected to deal with the

same types of situations and, in fact, the instructions given by the

different unions bear a striking resemblance to each other. The

crucial difference is the manner in which the information to school

representatives is presented and the emphasis which it receives.

The NUT approach reflects an organizational structure which is intended

to carry out a range of functions, only one of which is that of a

trade union. For this reason far less emphasis is placed on workplace

representation of the traditional trade union type. The NAS/UWT, with

its specific concern for trade union activity and the protection of

members' interests, has placed a very different emphasis on its

policy for workplace representation. This emphasis, together with a

certain ambiguity in the way in which it is presented to school

representatives, had led to a situation in which there is some

confusion about what school representatives should be doing and about

what it is that they are, according to the NAS/UWT's own policy,

actually allowed to do.

The Coventry NAS/UWT School Representatives: Selection

This ambiguity about what school representatives ought to

recognize as their legitimate functions caused some problems for the

executive of the Coventry NAS/UWT particularly because, as will

be shown in Chapters 6 and 7, the local association had its own

officers of the local association were concerned that a school

representative acting unwisely might create difficulties which could

lead to a breakdown in this strategy. This concern helped to shape

the attitudes of the local secretary, in particular, in his own

dealings with school representatives.

The association at both local and national level was anxious

that school representatives were chosen by the members in the workplace

and that, once chosen, they were worthy of the accreditation which

they must receive in order to act as school representatives. Both

the election and the accreditation of school representatives presented

some difficulty in Coventry. In accordance with the code of practice

issued under section 6 of the Employment Protection Act 1975,

(quoted in NAS/UWT,1977a), the school representative must be elected

annually or when a vacancy occurs. This must be done by a meeting of

the NAS/UWT members in that particular school. It is stressed that

the meeting need not be a formal one but-that all existing workplace

members must be informed of the time, place, date and purpose of the

meeting by its convenor and that the meeting must be conducted in a

proper manner. Once the election has taken place both the headteacher

and the local association secretary are to be informed of the result

in writing as soon as possible (NAS/UWT, 1977a) . Accreditation is then

given to the duly elected school representative and this cannot be

withheld provided that the election meeting has been conducted in a

proper manner.

The officers of the Coventry local association tended to play

a more active part in the election of school representatives than

might, at first, be assumed from the description of the procedure

which is to be found in the Guide for School Representatives, NAS/UWT,

97

representatives who were elected, many of whom would become members

of the executive committee under the re-structured organization,

would have the necessary experience as teachers and union members

to fit them for such an office. They believed that the national

policy for workplace representation required, for its success, that

the school representatives should be experienced union members who

were also well respected within their own schools. Although, as

has been argued, the actual scope which school representatives

have for workplace bargaining is very limited, they may well be

involved in the initial stages of conditions of service disputes.

Many of these revolve around the unresolved issue of that nature

of the teaching day. The officers regarded this as a very sensitive

area. They were looking, therefore, for teachers with at least

three years teaching experience together with some significant

union experience, ideally office holding of some kind. In an

association the size of the Coventry NAS/UWT this was not always

possible and,therefore, the officers sought to exert some influence

over the choices made..

They did this in a variety of ways. Each year the local

secretary made a point of writing to all schools with a large

workplace membership reminding members that an election for school

representative must take place, drawing attention to the need for

a properly constituted meeting, and reminding members that the

elected representative should be somebody 'responsible', experienced,

and of good standing in the school. The secretary also asked to

be notified of the relevant meetings in advance. This would give the

Normally this would be the local secretary who felt that it was part

of his function to attempt to influence the choice of representative

wherever possible. At the very least he was thus able to ensure that

the meetings were properly conducted. The LEA gave the secretary

a very generous time allowance in order to do this and, as a result,

he did manage to attend most such meetings. It is clearly in the

interest of the L E A , as well as of the local association, to ensure

that suitable candidiates are elected as school representatives.

Where the secretary was unable to exert direct influence on

elections in this way he sought to exert indirect influence. Other

officers of the union were encouraged to attend meetings. This was

not always easy since most of the time for union work granted by the

employer tended to go to the secretary who carries the heaviest

burden. In the event of another officer being unable to attend, the

secretary approached other senior members of the local association

within the school in question, in an attempt to ensure that

suitably experienced candidates were nominated and, therefore, elected.

It would not be fair to see this process as a direct attempt on the part

of the officers to influence the actual result of elections in terms

of wanting preferred candidates elected. The activities of the

officers were directed more towards influencing the type of candidate

who emerged as school representative.

After elections had taken place the officers made every effort

to ensure that school representatives recognize that the workplace is

a sub-section of the Coventry local association and, as such, has

no real autonomy of its own. All actions must, therefore, go through

99

(NAS/UWT,1977a:6). School representatives can, under certain

circumstances, negotiate with headteachers on some matters

which are entirely internal to the school but few such matters

are ever entirely internal since they frequently relate, in

Coventry, to LEA or union policy. This had to be pointed out to

school representatives by local officers as had their role in

distributing information to members, and passing on details

of impending grievances to the local secretary. Many school

representatives, however, still had a far less precise view of

their duties than might be assumed from this discussion of the

involvement of local officers in their election, and from the

outline of their functions provided for them by the national

association. This lack of clarity as well as other factors such

as experience, trade union membership and commitment to the

NAS/UWT school representative role, appeared to be unequally

distributed throughout the local association.

The Coventry NAS/UWT School Representatives: Experience and Perceptions

Since the NAS/UWT merger the local association's primary

school membership has increased but it is still relatively small.

The work groups are, by their very nature, also small and, therefore,

the NAS/UWT membership in any one school will rarely, if ever, reach

double figures. In view of this, the choice of candidates for

school representative is somewhat restricted. In spite of this,

In document Plan de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales en los Talleres y Laboratorios de la Especialidad de Mecánica Industrial del Instituto Tecnológico Superior Carlos Cisneros de la Ciudad de Riobamba (página 143-148)