National Education Union Avis 9

They are not there to support teachers; they are there to support schools indirectly, as it happened in my case.
I was bullied, harassed, discriminated against, and my contract was unlawfully terminated. When I approached NEU, the assessor told me, "you have no case and the school is right. You will get at the most £15,000 in settlement". I approached ACAS and made a Tribunal claim, and my contract was reinstated. NEU could have done this, but they wanted to silently support the school in ending my contract. When the same school continued harassing me, I again approached them. And I was again told "the school is right"... this confirmed my belief that NEU works in partnership with schools. Do not trust NEU.

This union has become far too driven by their own personal political ideologies thanks to the new leader. They have moved so far to the left they cannot even be seen from the centre ground anymore.

The membership is ridiculously expensive. What really frustrates me is that they offer ‘free’ food and drinks at the local meetings to entice you to attend and support them. They are not free. Those nice ‘treats’ come out of the membership fee of members, most of whom have no intention of attending.

Cannot ever get through let alone get advice. Tried day before for 1 hour then another mor ing for 1 hour and today for 2 hours only for someone to pickup and act like they can't hear me! Everyone around me could hear her clearly and the line for 2 hours. This is in inner london

I contacted the NEU South Warwickshire rep about a contractual matter. In short being pressurised to work outside of contracted hours as a TA. I emailed on the 17th December. Since then nothing. I emailed again 3 days ago to get another out of office reply. I pay the NEU £13 a month as a part time TA. For what? Absolutely nothing! Will be cancelling my membership

They left me on my own when I needed them the most- during the grievance process. They have no compassion for discriminated employees. They suggested that they won’t support me if I raise the grievance against discrimination at the workplace. I don’t recommend them. Don’t waste your time and money!

Very terrible service and not helpful at all. The advice line guy name Ross was racist to me and was very dismissive of my case of discrimination and racism at workplace where all leadership is white too! He was very defensive of the school and not supportive of me and even wasn’t willing to acknowledge or understand the context of my matter. Absolutely terrible and and and racist.

Incredibly slow to respond to emails. You have to constantly chase them. They couldn’t help me with my case and didn’t give me any confidence in their ability to fight my corner. They ignored my emails when I was clearly in distress. When I submitted a formal complaint their findings had many inaccuracies (including lies to cover up their mistakes). They refused to address these and I didn’t get a single apology. Incredibly rude and uncaring. The opposite of what you want in a union.

So helpful when you need advice.

I was thinking about joining this year as I haven't been a member of any union before but realise I probably should be for my own protection.

I sent an email on 3rd August asking a couple of basic questions and didn't receive a reply until 20th August. This didn't fill me with much confidence that they would be efficient and supportive in the event of a more serious issue.