The spirit needed to build the fight we need
Over 200 delegates at NEU conference packed into an exciting NEU Left fringe meeting on Sunday evening, with conference in Bournemouth about to get underway on Monday morning.
In an exciting meeting chaired by joint NEU Left national secretaries Lucy Coleman and Emma Davies, a key note speaker was Jeremy Corbyn, who won a standing ovation for his passionate speech about building the fight we need: “Don’t wait for electoral politics” was a key part of his message.
We also heard from RMT president Alex Gordon, who as well as talking about the outrageous treatment of P&O workers, also told of ballots which could see an effective national rail strike of over r50,000 RMT members this summer.
PCS president Fran Heathcote also spoke, explaining how the union had won a massive turnout in an indicative national ballot- and that the union was now planning for moves to a full action ballot.
Her message was very relevant given a key vote at conference will be on whether the union should move forward to an indicative national ballot on pay.
Julie Copeland, an NEU rep from Preston spoke about how they had “started a rebellion” in a fight over academisation, and that everyone could start their own rebellions against the attacks we face.
Jodie Mallier-Ridley, and NEU rep from Coventry, and a member of the NEU Left steering committee explained what the NEU Left was and argued for people to join and help build a democratic and active left current in our union.
With a packed and outward facing agenda conference this week gives a chance to shape the approach we need to build the fight back we must have against the attacks we face. We will post daily updates from conference on key decisions and fringe meetings.
Our conference bulletin outlining what the NEU Left has to say on key conference debates is here:
http://www.neuleft.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/NEU-Left-Conf-2022-web.pdf
If you are not already a member of the NEU Left please join by visiting our website
