Commenting on the passing of motion 31 at Annual Conference in Harrogate, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"The Employment Rights Bill currently being debated in Parliament is a good and important step forward on workers’ rights. For too long, our members have faced poor treatment at work and the means of enforcing those rights have become increasingly protracted.
"It remains the case that after decades of attacks on trade unions, UK workers remain shackled by some of the most restrictive trade union legislation in Europe. The Government should repeal the Conservatives’ anti-union legislation at the earliest opportunity, as part of its plan to make work pay.
"The education secretary has made welcome comments about more flexible working being key to ending the recruitment and retention crisis in education. In a predominantly female profession, the Government needs to take action to remove the barriers that employers put up to deny legitimate requests for flexible working.
"We also want to see greater protection from discriminatory dismissal for older teachers, in particular older women teachers who are working through the menopause. These changes would be good for educators and would help keep more teachers in the profession."