The head of the education union said he plans to stay in the post despite attempts to “silly” and “coordinated” by his political opponents.
Matt Lack, appointed general secretary of NASUWT, said he will be taking the new election as a candidate for the union’s executive, bringing a week of legal challenges and a reopening of post nominations.
He also claimed that there were “some adjustments” to many media outlets from senior Tory figures, including former ministers Michael Gove and Damian Green.
In his first interview since the line was dragged into court last week, Wrack also says:
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The rejection was that “there are not many secretaries in state or senior civil servants,” claiming that he had no experience in leading an education union.
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He assured that the union would not be fused with the National Education Union, and denied the claim that he was friends with Noi’s general secretary.
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He said he never downplayed anti-Semitism, as the report argued, “I am not a Zionist, but I believe in the solution of two states.”
Amid speculation that he could stand aside, Wrack told the Guardian that he would remain an official candidate for the union’s control body. “I have been simply notified by national executives that I remain a candidate for national executive,” he said.
Wrack believes that senior conservatives have jumped into the queue in an attempt to damage trade unionism. Former Education Secretary Gove told the audience podcast: Former Home Office Minister Damien Green told the Telegraph that Wrack was “a horrifying socialist of the 1970s.”
Wrack said: “I’ve never met Michael Gove in my life, but he doesn’t seem to be like me. Damian Green, he doesn’t seem to be like me. He seems to have quite a determined effort to portray me in a certain way.
“In 2022, the firefighters were one of the few bits in the public sector that had not taken action through collective bargaining and achieved wage settlements without strikes. So the idea that I simply wanted a strike is a slut dic and frankly, I feel a bit off.”
Wrack suspects that there has been “some adjustment” to media criticism. “It’s about trying to do hand-hat work on me because they don’t want effective unionism,” he said.
In April, Wrack was appointed general secretary of the UK’s second largest education union. This contrasted with the more moderate position of NASUWT, as he was best known for the firefighter leftist leader for the past 20 years.
Critics were struck by the fact that he was not a teacher, and his appointment meant he didn’t have to challenge the election.
This week, his position was cast into doubt by a legal challenge amidst his appointment as a “correction” by a state enforcer who unfairly eliminated potential candidates.
Faced with an injunction, the union said it would resume nominations and hold elections if other candidates are nominated. The High Court has ruled that the union must pay £78,000 for legal issues, with its own legal costs well above £100,000.
Wrack said he could not comment on either legal challenges or future reelection contests, fearing that he would violate union rules. “I will not discuss (the legal case against NASUWT), that is not appropriate and I will not discuss the NASUWT election,” he said.
Some NASUWT members fear Wrack is too close to Neu General Secretary Daniel Kebede and wants to see a merger between the two unions.
Wrack rejected the report and said he would not insist on the merger. “The NASUWT Conference took a very clear stand on (the merger) and that is the union’s decision-making body and anyone who is the general secretary must respect that decision.
“Perhaps I don’t know about one or two meetings with Daniel over the years. I have been competing in the union movement for a very long time, at TUC General Council for 20 years.
Wrack is accused of being too close to Jeremy Corbyn and disregarding anti-Semitism in labour. Wrack said the claim was wrong, saying it was criticized by the FBU in collaboration with mutual community groups in the UK and Israel.
“I don’t call myself a Zionist, but I support two state solutions in the Middle East. The FBU supported the exact same position as the TUC.
Wrack, who attended a Catholic Grammar School in Manchester and studied at the Open University before completing his part-time master’s degree at the London School of Economics, said his lack of educational experience was irrelevant.
“It looks like people can become Secretary of State for education without any education experience,” he said.
Shortly after losing his attempts to reelection as FBU general secretary, he was asked if he did the right thing by becoming the general secretary of the education union. Lack said: