7

06/
20
ER
N
IN
W
D
R
A
W
A
IP
SH
ER
B
EM
M
L
A
N

THE 73RD EDITION FOR ALL PLYMOUTH TEACHERS NOVEMBER2007

O
TI
A
N

PAY Your pay “rise”

If you believe your salary
and that of your
this month is
co-workers is too high
and needs to be - 1.7%
cut—do nothing

• Inflation now This is Ed Balls, the Minister for Children,

4.2% Schools and Families. This is the man who is
going to hold your pay rises down to 2% for the
• Crude Oil @
next three years while inflation runs at over 4%.
$100 a barrel This is the man who is going to continue to
• The average privatise education by forcing through
Plymouth Academies and trust schools. This is the man you
mortgage is now should be contacting to tell him that you are not
£120 000 [see P4 going to stand it any more. You have to make this man listen—or all
your hard-won pay and conditions will be lost. Contact Ed Balls on:
for advice] http://www.edballs.com/index.jsp?c=/p/feedback/ and tell him what
• PO workers you think about pay, work load, SATs, trust schools etc. It is essential
achieve a that all Union members contact their City Councillors and Members of
6.7% pay rise Parliament to let them know that teachers have had enough of being
after taking told how to do their jobs. Let them know that 10 years of below
inflation pay rises is enough. Don't wait until tomorrow, do it now.
strike action
Google will help you find your MP's address: try
• Electricity & gas www.theyworkforyou.com DO IT NOW
prices to rise by
at least 10% in ASBESTOS—SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED?
January See page 3
THE NUT: “We work up to a standard not down to a price”
Independent of Government and not affiliated to any political party
“Boom and Bust” was the old way our
pay was determined—when it lost its ASK YOUR ATL
value a big campaign had to be
launched with much government hand- AND NASUWT
wringing to grudgingly allow teachers’ COLLEAGUES
pay to recover—looks like we’re going to
suffer this again...unless we do some- TO JOIN US IN
thing to restore its value before it falls ACTION TO
even further.
PROTECT OUR
Your standard of living is falling
PAY
and will continue to fall unless
you do something about it
Who said, “More tests
Steve Sinnott said, “You can’t
value public servants
means less stress?”
if you cut their pay” Answer—see photo below
STRB Report on pay delayed—the government’s mouthpiece, the
“independent” School Teachers’ Review Body, has delayed publishing
its observations on the 3-year 2% pay imposition. When the Report
finally emerges the NUT will make its rigorous and powerful response

National Ballot Results…...Gill Ed Balls is

Goodswen and Martin Reed elected as
V/Presidents with Alyson Palmer and
asked to explain
Hilary Bills as examiners of accounts. why a 2% pay
Ian Murch was returned unopposed as Treasurer rise for 3 years
is a good deal
IT’S 30,000 !
for teachers
THERE ARE THIRTY
and properly
THOUSAND FEWER TLRS THAN
rewards them
MANAGEMENT
for the work
ALLOWANCES...
they do
[AND NO UPS4 & 5]

“We need a union not in partnership with government but in partnership with teachers”
The Plymouth Proprietary Library, (registered charity no. 1015700), at North Hill, is a
traditional library with a unique atmosphere. It was established as a subscription library in 1812,
making it one of the oldest surviving organisations in the city’s history. The library holds a wide
variety of fiction and non-fiction texts with a special emphasis on late 19th and early 20th century
novels. The library is open from 9.30am to 5pm each weekday, (excepting Wednesdays when
traditional half-day closing is observed and the library shuts at 2pm), and is also open on
Saturday from 9.30am till 12.30. Annual subscription rates are currently ₤ 25 and if any NUT
member is interested in joining, the librarians would be pleased to offer a guided tour and answer
any specific questions. The Head Librarian, John Smith can be contacted on 660515.

Asbestos – has your school been checked lately?

From wonder material to deadly carcinogen, asbestos has had a rollercoaster ride as a material. Asbestos is
now the greatest single killer of people in work related deaths, according to the Health and Safety Executive.
About 4000 people die each year from asbestos related illnesses and this expected to rise before the effect
of legislation is felt.
Look up

Damaged Asbestos Insulating Board (AIB)

Teacher deaths on the increase
Between 1991 and 2000 there were 79 asbestos-related teacher deaths. In the preceding decade there were
less than 25. The NUT has called on governments from the 1980s to carry out an asbestos survey in every
school, but to do so would “provoke panic” so successive governments have refused. They even refuse to
debate the issue in parliament...
Where can you find asbestos?
You may find asbestos in any school building that was built or refurbished before 2000 – yes, that is 2000.
Despite the evidence of asbestos’ deadly nature, it was used in buildings as late as 2000.
Common examples of asbestos use would be ceiling tiles, fire blankets in Technology and Science areas,
asbestos cement roofs, guttering, fall pipes, asbestos lagging on pipes, sprayed asbestos coatings on walls
and ceilings – even some vinyl floor tiles contain asbestos.
How safe am I?
In most of the forms above, asbestos is safe as long as it not damaged. When broken, fibres can be re-
leased into the atmosphere and inhaled. There are three main diseases caused by asbestos: Mesothelioma
(which is always fatal), lung cancer (almost always fatal) and asbestosis (not always fatal but it can be very
debilitating).
Check your school
Ask you Headteacher if and when the school was last checked.

FREE 1GB USB MEMORY STICK

for every NQT joining before 1st January
—just email your membership number and school address to get yours!
plymnut@teacher.clara.co.uk
 Beating Stress
How To Help Yourself
A recent survey shows that teachers are
now the most highly stressed group of
workers in Britain.
This news will be greeted with a
resounding penny-dropping thud from
most teachers—or at least those with
time enough left to read the news!
Stress is a Killer
Make no bones about it, excessive stress
can shorten your life considerably.
Extended or repeated activation of the
stress response takes a heavy toll on the
body. The physical wear and tear it causes
includes damage to the cardiovascular and
immune systems. Stress compromises your
ability to fight off disease and infection,
makes it difficult to conceive a baby, and it
can even rewire the brain, leaving you more
vulnerable to everyday pressures and
mental health problems such as anxiety and
depression. This can lead to alcohol or
substance abuse, insomnia, heart attack,
stroke, eating disorders and many other
physical effects of psychological stress.
[Consult your GP as early as you can]
WE’RE WORKING
Helping Yourself
MORE HOURS—Official
1] Learn to say “No!” Don’t allow yourself to be bullied or blackmailed The Office of Manpower Economics
into accepting more work than you can reasonably do. reports that the so-called workload
2] Make time for you. It’s not selfish—read a book, listen to music, go “agreement” has failed spectacularly
to reduce the hours teachers work.
to the theatre, see a film, do something you enjoy. The downward pressure on our
3] Exercise regularly. Thirty minutes, three times a week is enough working hours is revealed as a
but more is better. Sport is good. joke as primary teachers now
work 2 hours more—up to 52 hrs
4] Reduce caffeine and sugar. The temporary burst of energy leads to a week.
a crash and extra fatigue later. It appears that the “partnership” with
5] Stop beating yourself up. You can’t always change the world on your the government [that excludes the
NUT] is unable to bring about the
own. So do what you can and let the world look after itself the rest of changes we so desperately need.
the time. Is it any wonder that half of all
6] Have a laugh. Watch a funny film or programme, listen to BBC 7. NQTs leave within 3 years of
qualifying?
Some doctors believe laughter really does have therapeutic effects.
A member writes, “Do I have to Plymouth Division:
set work for my TA to deliver when plymnut@teacher.clara.co.uk
01503 240527
I have my PPA time?” Regional Office:
Answer: NO—it’s about workload south.west@nut.org,uk
reduction... 01392 258028