There are 14 various trade
unions for teachers in the United Kingdom alone; this is due to the varying
education systems across the country. Also some of the unions cater to only
certain staff members (for example, headmasters) within the school or focus on
certain parts of the UK instead. The main unions for England and Wales are NUT (national
union of teachers), NASUWT (national association of schoolmaster union of
women) and ATL (association of teachers and lecturers), leaving EIS
(educational institute of Scotland) as the leading trade union in Scotland for
teachers.
A teacher trade union is a
group/organisation, which teachers can join, to allow their best interests to
be represented by a single voice. The importance of joining a trade union is
high, as one could benefit immensely from it. Within the information I gathered
from (Law Teacher, 2017), I found the following benefits given to those who
join a union; higher pay received, better work conditions, more holidays, sick
leave and also insurance plan benefits too. There are various reasons why most
people join a union, the benefits listed above that they provide, do have a
part to play in it, but people also join if they’re being ill treated in a work
place or unfairness in the work environment. More and more people are joining
in unions at an increasing rate to protect their employee rights, have legal
matters dealt with and most commonly – higher wages.