New Labour = Neo-Liberals
Haringey Schools up for Sale ?
Earlier this year Haringey Council in North London decided to investigate whether it could use funds from a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to buy and refurbish buildings to create a new school.
They were soon told by their consultants that no company would be interested in a PFI for one school - they would have to turn over the management and servicing of all nine of the Borough’s secondary schools for 30 years in order to get private business to finance the new school.
Without batting an eyelid or consulting any parents or teachers the Council decided to do just that - sell off all Haringey’s schools. The implications are a loss of community use and control of school buildings and worse conditions and pay for school workers. Teachers are not part of the immediate sell-off but a bid is being prepared for an Education Action Zone next year.
A group of Haringey socialists, trade union and community activists (including Socialist Outlook supporters) who had met to discuss solidarity with RMT members fighting privatisation on London Underground immediately understood the significance of the PFI and launched a community campaign "Haringey against Privatisation" to fight the deal.
The campaign has grown and, in early November, it called a public meeting together with the local UNISON branch. The platform of the meeting was impressive ranging from Keith Sonnet, UNISON’s National Head of Local Government and Tony Brockman National Vice-President of the NUT, to local school governors, parents’ representatives and Paul Foot. Over a hundred local people attended the meeting and not one showed any support for the PFI. Such was the concern of the national trade union officials to be seen to be supporting the fight against PFI that when Tony Brockman at first refused to speak on the same platform as Paul Foot, who he dubbed a "fascist", he was told to appear by NUT General Secretary Doug McEvoy.
The inconvenient fact facing the Council is that they have to persuade the governors of each school to vote for the PFI for it to happen. To date they have not taken a single vote but have still spent £250,000 on consultants. Most governors are against the scheme but there is no room for complacency.
As more money is spent the Council will become more desperate too force the project through. Enormous pressure will be put on governors, particularly Labour Party appointees. To counter this, as well as addressing governors directly, the campaign must build up a counter pressure from parents, teachers and other workers. Only in this way will governors have the confidence to vote the proposals down.
The next step is a programme of public leafleting outside schools to build a demonstration and a lobby of the Council. There will also be stalls outside Wood Green Library every Saturday morning. We will not be going away - our schools are not for sale!
Haringey Against Privatisation can be contacted at PO Box 8446 London N17 6NZ
Demonstration Saturday 5th December 1 pm Ducketts Common (Turnpike Lane Tube)
Lobby Haringey Council Monday 14th December 6pm Civic Centre Wood Green London N22