Last year’s conference of the National Union of Teacher’s voted to ballot members of the union to vote in favour of setting up a political fund. This successful vote was a significant advance for the largest and traditionally more militant of the teacher trade unions. While other education trade unions, such as the UCU and even the NASUWT already have political funds, the NUT has remained without. Consequently it has been limited in terms of the political influence it could exert through the use of such a fund.

Although the proposal is not asking the union to affiliate to the Labour Party, the new fund will enable the union to campaign and advertise, both year-on-year and during election campaigns. The union will be able to raise issues important to education in the UK and be more directly active in persuading people to vote or not to vote for a political party.

A postal ballot member’s on the political fund proposal is now going to take place in January 2008. All members of the union should be arguing in their workplace for a Yes vote which will increase the union’s ability to be a campaigning organisation in defence of member’s interests, fight against privatisation and argue the case for improved education in the country.