National Union of Women Teachers

Founded in 1904 as the Equal Pay League, part of the National Union of Teachers, in 1906 this organisation was re-named the National Federation of Women Teachers. In 1920 it broke away to form an independent union, the National Union of Women Teachers. It was a feminist organisation and maintained close links with other groups and individuals in the women's movement. Its main aim was to obtain equal pay but it also interested itself in the wide range of issues affecting women teachers, including the marriage bar, maternity rights and family allowances. It was also concerned with education in its widest sense and took an interest in many issues such as class sizes, corporal punishment, the school leaving age, teacher training, and wider social and political debates such as capital punishment, the minimum wage and health policy. In 1961, when equal pay had been achieved, the Union wound up.

From the guide to the Records of the National Union of Women Teachers, 1904-1961, (Institute of Education, University of London)