24. Mr. Baker Whiteasked the Minister of Education whether school teachers employed in schools coming within the jurisdiction of his Department must, as a condition of their employment, be members of the National Union of Teachers.
§ Mr. TomlinsonI impose no such requirement. I have, moreover, informed the Durham local education authority, who are contemplating such a requirement, that, while I favour teachers joining a union or professional organisation, I do not consider that they should be coerced into doing so by the action of their employing authority. If the authority were to persist in the line of action proposed they might find themselves, as a result, unable to discharge their statutory obligations. I could not remain indifferent to this threat to the educational service and, if need be, I should use the powers which the Act gives me to prevent it.