A STATEMENT FROM DOUG McAVOY. 24 June2003

The following is a personal statementfrom Doug McAvoy, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers.

Tomorrow a committee of the Union is considering a detailed timetablefor the election of general secretary. The proposed timetable then has to beapproved by the Unions National Executive.

I was elected on June 28 1999. The rules lay down that my term ofoffice should last for five years. The proposed timetable would result in mybeing dismissed from office on our about February 1, almost five months earlierthan my contract requires.

Should the shortened timetable be agreed by the Executive, I willconsider whether I should take the issue to the membership by being a candidateso that I can at least fulfill the terms of my contract as determined by themembership.

The procedures for the election of theGeneral Secretary and the Deputy General Secretary are contained in the Rulesof the Union. The timetable for the elections in 1994 and 1999 ensured a periodof five years between the elections and a period in office of five years.

Following the declaration of the election result, the successfulcandidates receive a letter of notification. The letters include the following:In accordance with Union Rule 22(d)(6) you will hold office for a period offive years when the post will be subject to re-election.

This provides the successful candidate with a five year contract asGeneral Secretary. Exactly the same procedures are applied in respect of theDGS.

A political faction within the Executive is pressing for analternative timetable which would result in the election of General Secretarybeing declared on or around Februrary 1. This would result in me beingdismissed as General Secretary 5 months before the end of my contract.

The political faction promoting this is doing so to enhance theelectoral chances of their candidate, Steve Sinnott.

I am angry and hurt that a political faction within the Executiveshould seek to terminate my contract as General Secretary earlier thandetermined by the membership.

This tactic is designed to enhance the candidature of Steve Sinnott tothe disadvantage of the known other candidates, John Illingworth and JohnBangs. The effect will be to deny John Illingworth the opportunity to gainsupport from speaking in debates at next years annual conference. It willcurtail the campaigning time available to John Bangs who as the onlyindependent candidate needs that time to build his campaign and promote his candidature.

The proposed timetable positions the election of the GS between otherelections, that of the National Officers and those for the national executive.The political faction will have a slate of candidates in each of the electionsand will hope to create a bandwagon. They certainly will promote theircandidate as part of their overall political slate.

If any governing body or education authority sought to terminate thecontract of a teacher in this way, the NUT would be outraged and offer fullsupport to that teacher.