Voice 'The union for education professionals' (formerly The Professional Association of Teachers) is an independent British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Trade Union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 for teachers, lecturers and other education and childcare workers in British education

Education in the United Kingdom

Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for England, and the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are...

. The union is committed to the principle of not striking

Strike action

Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

or engaging in "any kind of industrial action" "in any circumstances."

History

Voice was founded, as the Professional Association of Teachers, in 1970 by two Essex teachers Colin Leicester and Ray Bryant. Subsequently, in February 2008, Professional Association of Teachers became Voice: the union for education professionals.

Affiliated bodies

The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN) was established, in 1982, by a group of nursery nurses, who also wished to commit themselves to the principle of not striking. They became a section of PAT on 1 September 1995.

The Professionals Allied to Teaching (PAtT) section was launched in 2000. NAASSC (National Association of Administrative Staff in Schools and Colleges) was affiliated to PAT/PAtT in 2001.

PANN and PAtT sections no longer exist as they are now part of Voice.

The charity PAT (Education and Learning) was launched by the Professional Association of Teachers in 1999. This charity changed its name, in June 2008, to Voice (Supporting Education and Learning.