STEVE SINNOTTwas the leader of the National Union of Teachers and about to lead them into controversial strike action when he died from a heart attack on 5 April, 2008, aged 56.Just three days earlier the NUT’s members voted to go on strike for the first time in more than 20 years.Mr Sinnott became NUT General Secretary in 2004 after three decades as a union activist. He was a teacher for 19 years before reaching the upper echelons of the union in the mid 1990s.Steve Sinnott was born in Liverpool on 2 June, 1951. His upbringing was notably working class and his father, a worker at the local Ford factory, had socialist leanings.After studying at the area’s comprehensive school he took a degree in social sciences at Middlesex Polytechnic. After graduating in 1974 he began his teacher training at Edge Hill College in Ormskirk, Lancashire. In the same year he joined the NUT.His first job was teaching humanities in the Toxteth area of Liverpool between 1975 and 1979. He then moved to Broughton High School, near Preston, where he was head of their economics and business department.In 1986 he was elected to the NUT’s national executive and chaired several committees during the following years. He quit teaching in 1994 following his appointment as the NUT’s national president and he served as the union’s deputy general secretary until 2004 when NUT rules forced Doug McAvoy to step down as the union’s leader after 15 years, the maximum term in the role.He won the 2004 leadership election by 27,287 votes to 22,134 over his nearest rival, Ian Murch. As the close vote demonstrates, the organisation was highly divided at the time but during his spell as general secretary Mr Sinnott was successful in restoring a sense of unity.His achievements also included maintaining independence from the Labour Party, and yet staying on amicable terms with the government. He was a great advocate of education being used as a means of social change, campaigning for high standards of teaching at all points of the economic scale, as well as helping ethnic minorities integrate and be accepted into the wider community.The strike planned for 24 April, 2008, was to be his biggest challenge yet. Teachers had not gone on a national strike since 1987, but 75 per cent of those who cast a vote were in favour of the walk-out to demand a pay rise above the level of inflation."Our children deserve the best," said Mr Sinnott, who insisted that poor pay levels would put young people off joining the profession and thus lower the general standards of education in England and Wales.Mr Sinnott planned to continue as NUT general secretary until 2014 when he would return to teaching. His friends spoke of his ambition to work in Africa.His death came completely out of the blue and the union opted to continue with the strike as planned."I know that he would have wanted the union to go ahead with all its campaigns because he believed in all of them with his heart as well as his head," said Christine Blower, acting general secretary.Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "Steve Sinnott was inspirational in his devotion to teaching, not just for children in Britain, but around the world. His commitment to teachers and education will be remembered."He was survived by his wife Mary, also a teacher, their son Stephen, daughter Kate, and two grandsons.
Keep me informed of updates
