The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, teachers' union and

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

, affiliated to the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

representing

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

s from nursery and

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

. In March 2017, ATL members endorsed a proposed merger with the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

to form a new union known as the

National Education Union The National Education Union (NEU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for school teachers, further education lecturers, education support staff and teaching assistants. It was formed by the amalgamation of the National Union of Teachers ...

, which came into existence on 1 September 2017. At that time, approximately 120,000 individuals belonged to the union (apart from those professions included in the name, education support staff and

teaching assistants A teaching assistant (TA) or education assistant (EA) is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate students; ''undergraduate teach ...

were also members), making it the third largest teaching and education union in the UK. ATL had members throughout

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

, the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

, and British Service schools overseas. The ATL brand continues as a section or subsidiary of the National Education Union.

Governance and administration

ATL was led by its

Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

who were assisted by a General Secretary. All senior officers and officials were elected by an Association wide ballot and the overall direction was determined by the Annual Conference which had delegates from each branch. The ATL President served a one-year term. * From September 2000, ? * From September 2001, Julie Grant. * From September 2002, * From September 2003, Mike Short? * From September 2004, Eddie Ferguson? * From September 2005, * From September 2006, Stuart Herdson. * From September 2007, * From September 2008, Andy Ballard. * From September 2009, Lesley Ward. * From September 2010, Andy Brown. * From September 2011, Alice Robinson. * From September 2012, Hank Roberts. * From September 2013, Alison Sherratt. * From September 2014, Mark Baker. * From September 2015, Kim Knappett. * From September 2016, Shelagh Hirst. * From September 2017, Niamh Sweeney. * From September 2018, Kim Knappett who became Joint President of the National Education Union on 1 January 2019. * The final ATL General Secretary was Dr

Mary Bousted Mary Winefride Bousted, Baroness Bousted (; born 15 September 1959), is a British trade unionist, educator and life peer. She was the joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) from 2017 to 2023 and previously the general sec ...

History

The origins of ATL go back to 1884 when 180 women met to create the

Association of Assistant Mistresses The Association of Assistant Mistresses (AAM) was a trade union representing female teachers in British secondary schools. The union was founded in 1884 as the Association of Assistant Mistresses in Secondary Schools Incorporated, the last part o ...

(AAM). These women worked in schools founded for

higher education of girls Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

. Their concern was primarily for the pupils. However, in 1921, the AAM appointed representatives to the newly formed Burnham Committee on Salaries in Secondary Schools. 1891 saw the formation of the Association of Assistant Masters in Secondary Schools (AMA). Its purpose was to protect and improve the conditions of service of secondary teachers. Between 1899 and 1908, it played an influential part in obtaining security of tenure for assistant teachers through the Endowed Schools Act. Then in 1978 AAM and AMA merged to form the Assistant Masters and Mistresses Association (AMMA), with a membership of approximately 75,000. The name was changed in 1993 to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). ATL affiliated to the TUC in 1999. It resigned from the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union cent ...

in 2015. In January 2011, the Association for College Management merged into ATL. The ATL merged with the

in 2017, forming the

Annual Conferences from 2009

* 1999 Harrogate * 2000 Cardiff * 2001 Belfast * 2002 Torquay * 2003 Blackpool * 2004 Bournemouth * 2005 Torquay * 2006 Gateshead * 2007 * 2008 Torquay * 2009 Liverpool * 2010 Manchester * 2011 Liverpool * 2012 Manchester * 2013 Liverpool * 2014 Manchester * 2015 Liverpool * 2016 Liverpool * 2017 * 2018

General Secretaries from 1978

* 1978: Andrew Hutchings and Joyce Baird * 1979: Geoff Beynon and Joyce Baird * 1988: Peter Smith and Joyce Baird * 1990: Peter Smith * 2003:

References

External links

*
Catalogue of the AMMA archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...