No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Professional Association or Teachers' Trade Union: The A.T.T.I. and the Question of T.U.C. Affiliation*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 July 2014
Extract
On January 1, 1967, the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions became the first organization of British academics to affiliate with the Trades Union Congress. Over the next ten years such major educational bodies as the National Union of Teachers, the National Association of Schoolmasters, and the Association of University Teachers followed its lead and sought formal alignment with the organized labor movement in Britain. Participation in the T.U.C. meant identification as a trade union. This issue lay at the very heart of a lengthy debate within the A.T.T.I. over affiliation. For affiliation required a fundamental reappraisal of the A.T.T.I.'s traditional professional identity and organizational principles, one that ultimately led its members to recognize and acknowledge both the Association's primary role as a teachers' trade union and its common interests with the labor movement. The issue generated similar debate within many British education associations and signaled the emergence of teachers as active participants in the trade union movement. But it was an issue not easily resolved given teachers' historical identity as professionals. A.T.T.I. presence in the T.U.C. helped other associations move in the same direction and eased acceptance of this new identity in many instances. The A.T.T.I. decision to affiliate thus represents an important turning point in the history of that Association and the relationship between academics and the organized labor movement in Britain.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © North American Conference on British Studies 1979
Footnotes
*
As of January 1, 1976, the A.T.T.I. merged with the Association of Teachers in Colleges and Departments of Education to form the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education. The Council and Executive Committee minutes of the A.T.T.I. are located in the Library of the N.A.T.F.H.E. at the Hamilton House, London. I would like to express my deep appreciation to Mrs. Epko, Librarian, Mr. Tom Driver, General Secretary, and the entire staff of the N.A.T.F.H.E. for their invaluable assistance in the preparation of this study.
References
1 Coates, R.D., Teachers' Unions and Interest Group Politics: A Study in the Behavior of Organized Teachers in England and Wales, (London, 1972), p. 104Google Scholar, where it clearly helped the N.U.T. decision.
2 See Farnham, David, “The Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions 1904-1914: Casestudy on the Origins, Formation and Growth of a White-Color Organization,” International Review of Social History, 19 (1974)Google Scholar, where its functions as a trade union are amply demonstrated. Also see Swabe, A.I.R., “The Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions: Structure and Trade Union Activities, 1918-1931,” M.Sc. essay (University of London, 1971).Google Scholar
3 Swabe, pp. 59-60, and Farnham, p. 377, find evidence of this professional orientation from the Association's founding. Tom Driver, General Secretary of the A.T.T.I., in an interview on 6 April 1977 indicated that it was still the dominant view in the ‘fifties when he first served on the Executive Committee.
47 See Coates, p. 112, for an excellent summary of the tactical problems posed by changing conditions in the ‘sixties.
5 Lowndes, G.A.N., The Silent Social Revolution: An Account of the Expansion of Public Education in England and Wales, 1895-1965 (London, 1969), p. 345.Google Scholar
6 Great Britain, Department of Education and Science, Statistics of Education, 1966, 4 (London, 1967), Table 17.Google ScholarPubMed
7 A.T.T.I., Treasurer's Records. (Membership Office).
8 Report of Committee of Higher Education, appendix three: Teachers in Higher Education (the Robins Report), H.M.S.O. October, 1963-Cmnd. 2154-III, p. 214.Google ScholarPubMed
9 Burke, Vincent, Teachers in Turmoil (Harmondsworth, 1971), p. 160.Google Scholar
10 A.T.T.I., Council minutes, 14 October 1961.
11 Ibid.
12 A.T.T.I., Annual Report of the Council, 1961-62, pp. 19-20.
13 Spoor, A., White-Collar Union: Sixty Years of NALGO. (London, 1967), p. 295.Google Scholar
14 The Schoolmaster, 16 March 1962, p. 650.Google ScholarPubMed
15 Great Britain, Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons), 5th series, Vol. 649 (14 November 1961), pp. 183–185.Google Scholar
16 A.T.T.I., Executive Committee Minutes, 30/31 March 1962.
17 Ibid., 26/27 October 1962.
18 Ibid., 22/23 February 1963.
19 A.T.T.I., Council Minutes, 30 March 1962.
20 A.T.T.I., Executive Committee Minutes, 5 April 1963.
21 Ibid., 31 January 1964.
22 A.T.T.I., Report of a meeting of C.O.P.P.S.O. on 5 February 1964, Appendix, ibid., 14/15 February 1964.
23 Coates, p. 94, also sees this development as one factor in the growth of white-collar membership in the T.U.C.
24 A.T.T.I., Council Minutes, 27 January 1962.
25 Interview with Tom Driver, A.T.T.I. General Secretary, 19 April 1977, where he also indicated that he had set closer ties with the labor movement as a personal goal when he was first elected President of the Association.
26 A.T.T.I., Council Minutes, 26 January 1963.
27 A.T.T.I., Minutes of the 54th Annual Conference, 1, 2 and 3 June 1963. In Agenda to 55th Annual Conference, p. 14.
28 A.T.T.I., Executive Committee Minutes, 25/26 October 1963.
29 See A.T.T.I., “Draft Committee Minutes, 25/26 October 1963. Minutes 20/21 September 1963, and “Memorandum on T.U.C. Affiliation,” Council Agenda 9 January 1964, pp. 17-23.
30 A.T.T.I., Council Minutes, 1 February 1964.
31 Soper, Richard J., “Non-Political Affiliation and the T.U.C.” The Technical Journal (April, 1964), p. 12.Google Scholar
32 Alsop, M. and Coltart, D.S.R., “T.U.C. Affiliation”. The Technical Journal (October, 1960), pp. 32–33.Google Scholar
33 A.T.T.I., “Panel B Documentation,” Executive Committee Minutes 8/9 May 1964.
34 A.T.T.I., 55th Annual Conference Agenda, 1964, p. 38.
35 Interview with Tom Driver, 19 April 1977, in which he indicated that it was also widely recognized at the time to be the real issue behind the debate.
36 A.T.T.I., 55th Annual Conference Agenda, 1964, p. 10.
37 A.T.T.I., Executive Committee Minutes, 8/9 May 1964.
38 A.T.T.I., Minutes of the 55th Annual Conference, 1964, in Agenda to the 56th Annual Conference, p. 11.
39 A.T.T.I., Council Minutes, 30 January 1965.
40 “Rules Revision” in The Technical Journal (March 1965).Google Scholar
41 A.T.T.I., Council Minutes, 30 January 1965.
42 A.T.T.I., Minutes of the 56th Annual Conference, 1965, in Agenda to the 57th Annual Conference, p. 19.
43 Interview with Tom Driver, 19 April 1977.
44 Remuneration of Teachers Bill, Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons, Session 27 October 1964 to8 November 1965, Vol. IV, pp. 233-34.
45 A.T.T.I., Council Minutes, 6 October 1965.
46 A.T.T.I., 57th Annual Conference Agenda, 1966, p. 7.
47 Orna, Elizabeth, “Conference Report,” The Technical Journal (July 1066), p. 18.Google Scholar
48 Ibid.
49 A.T.T.I., Minutes of the 57th Annual Conference, 1966, in Agenda to 58th Annual Conference, p. 26.
50 Interview with Tom Driver, 6 April 1977, where he recalled that they decided to support motion but only if tied to a referendum.
51 Orna, p. 18.
52 A.T.T.I., Minutes of the 57th Annual Conference, 1966, in Agenda to 58th Annual Conference, p. 26.
53 A.T.T.I., Executive Committee Minutes, 8/9 July 1966.
54 Ibid.
55 Ibid., 23/24 September 1966.
56 A.T.T.I., “Memorandum on Affiliation to the Trades Union Congress,” 1966, pp. 6-7.
57 A.T.T.I., Executive Committee Minutes, 15 October 1966.
58 A.T.T.I., Report of the Special Conference on T.U.C. Affiliation, 15 October 1966, p. 1.
59 A.T.T.I., Minutes of Special Conference, 15 October 1966 in Agenda to the 58th Annual Conference, p. 28.