Teaching union organises to combat bullying

The ATL teachers' and lecturers' union has launched a vigorous campaign against workplace bullies.

After membership surveys earlier this year found high levels of bullying, including "cyber-bullying" (see January's Workplace Report), the union organised a successful training day for 60 reps in London last month and is now planning other regional events across the country.

The training day featured presentations from ATL executive member Hank Roberts on health and safety campaigning and from LRD's Paul Hampton on bullying. ATL organiser Karl English told Workplace Report that the event was oversubscribed even though it was on a Saturday, illustrating "the enthusiasm among members to tackle workplace bullying". He added that the day "put over a really strong union message to set the tone for the campaign."